Through the passage of the worlds
by Elfaki
Summary: Naruto, Sasuke, Sai and Sakura fall asleep in a strange cave and they find themselves in a new world the next morning. follow the four ninjas in their life in the new world! Harry Potter crossover, better than it sounds....
1. seeking haven

This is my first crossover and well I tried to be original. I read a couple of Harry Potter/Naruto crossovers but they all had the shinobis go to Hogwarts as a mission, so I tried to write something different than that. Anyway updates will be slow because I want to make long chapters, well as long as I can. But I have already how the story will turn out. Anyway review please!!!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own Harry Potter, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto and J.K. Rowling.

**Through the passage of the worlds**

**Seeking **** Haven**

They were on their way home from a difficult mission. All four of them were broken, bruised and hurt in various places on their bodies. They needed a shelter, and they needed it fast. Sakura and Sai weren't injured as badly as Sasuke and Naruto, but they were still hurt. Naruto's head was badly injured and wouldn't stop bleeding; he must have had a couple of broken ribs as well. Sasuke on the other hand, had a deep gash at his left side, and he was limping as well. Sakura's and Sai's wounds weren't that significant, but they slowed them down. She wanted to heal them, since she was the team's medic, but that wasn't an option in the open. Even though it was the beginning of the summer it looked like it was going to rain and it was beginning to get dark. Soon the summer rain was falling heavily above their heads. Things didn't look too well.

Sai spotted a cave and motioned to the rest of his teammates to follow him. They reached the entrance of the cave and rested their tired bodies against the filthy walls. The cave wasn't very big but it had enough space to fit them and it looked comfortable for the time being. They soon settled themselves to rest. Sai lit a small fire and soon the room was covered in a faint orange light. The shinobi now noticed that there was something unnatural about this cave. Across the room there were strange markings. They looked like they belonged to a strange language, and the shinobi couldn't understand what they meant. These markings were everywhere. On the walls, on the roof even the floor. They inspected them closely but soon they forgot everything about them, since the need to heal and rest their bodies was much more important for them at the moment.

Sakura immediately got to work and checked Naruto first, since he was in the worst condition and began healing his most crucial wounds, he was losing his consciousness despite his amazing self-healing abilities. Sai was next and the last one was Sasuke, whose body was in much pain and he needed to calm down before Sakura could start her work. In the end, Sakura with the help of Sai healed her own wounds and shortly after she fell to the floor tired and drained of chakra. Now her shirt was ripped at different places, covered in blood, not only hers, and the fact that she was cold wasn't helping her body either. They were all in an awful condition and Sakura fell asleep soon after her job was finished. One by one, the rest of the team fell asleep as well. Not one of them noticed that night the strange azure light emitting from the markings that covered the room during the night, nor the eerie aura that surrounded. Sakura shivered in her sleep when she felt a spine-chilling breeze on her skin and Sasuke stirred in his sleep seeking more warmth. The fire faded from the sudden small wind and temperature inside the cave fell significantly.

A few hours later, and Sai was the first to wake up. Something was strange. Immediately his eyes scanned his surroundings. The light was bright indicating that the morning had arrived, and the birds were singing their personal tunes and melodies. But that wasn't the problem. There was nothing wrong with that. The problem was the view from the cave, which was different, very different than the view from last night. When they entered the cave last night there wasn't a creek a few feet away from the cave, the trees weren't the same type, and even the cave was smaller. But markings were all around him, similar if not identical from the markings from last night. Something wasn't right. He noticed Sakura waking up and rushed to her side. She hadn't noticed the strange things at the scenery yet.

Sakura blinked in confusion while watching Sai approaching her without the infamous fake smile on his features and scowled with the reminder of it. Sakura hated that smile. But then another thought came to her head waking her from her musings. If Sai wasn't smiling with that detested smile of his, then something was up. He motioned his head to the walls and the entrance of the cave showing her the changes around them. She then noticed the same strange things around her and looked at Sai searching for an answer for her unspoken question. He just sat next to her, leaning against the wall and trying to understand what was going on. Unfortunately his wound reopened from all the movements he made. Sakura rapped bandages around his waist to stop the bleeding. She didn't have enough chakra to heal him properly yet.

A few moments later the other dark-haired member of the team woke up and noticed immediately the differences from last night. He looked at Naruto who was sleeping while cuddling his backpack and smiling stupidly, probably at some dream that included ramen. He relaxed that his rival-turned-enemy-turned-best friend, was out of grave danger. As he looked at the duo across the wall he voiced his thoughts confused.

"Sai, Sakura do you have any idea of what is going on?" He waited for an answer, switching his gaze from Sai to Sakura and vice versa.

It was Sai that answered.

"We have no idea..." and he gave his trademark smile to the Uchiha heir, earning another scowl from the only female member of the team.

They fell silent for a while trying to think of something. Five minutes later Sakura stood up and spoke her mind, with determination visible in her eyes

"I'm going to search for a clue or something outside. Don't follow you're all messed up and we might get lost from each other. So one person lost is better than three." She added after she saw the expressions of disapprove from their faces.

"But you haven't recovered yet, and your clothes are a mess." Sasuke stated calmly. Even though he wasn't that calm inside. And after the years he spent with Orochimaru he had became a little more paranoid than normal people were.

"I'm in a much better condition than you two and Naruto won't wake up until noon, so I'm going." She closed her lips firmly and fixed them with a glare, showing to the two men that she wouldn't take "no" for an answer. And she didn't.

Even though Sai didn't show it, he didn't want Sakura to go all alone scouting in foreign territory. He still proclaimed to be emotionless, but he couldn't fool his teammates, and Sakura was the best at reading him. They have gotten a lot closer during the years they spent together and he grew a little overprotective towards her, in a brotherly way. He sighed in defeat. He knew she was right. In order to find out what had happened to them someone should scout the area and Sakura was the only one that could do it, at least she wasn't as badly injured as they were.

Sasuke was thinking among the same lines as Sai. He made up his mind and decided to let her go. He took a blue shirt from his backpack with a high collar and the Uchiha family symbol on its back, and handed it over to Sakura to wear it. She accepted it with a smile, and took a few kunai knives and shuriken with her for extra safety.

Sakura took off strolling, she could go really fast but the situation and her body demanded a slow pace, and decided that it was better for her to walk instead of running. If this was a normal mission she would be half way through the forest in five minutes, unfortunately she was still tired and her chakra was still low from all the healing she performed the previous night. Fear, she was overwhelmed from it. She wanted to go outside because she was scared, from many things. Waking up at an unknown place was one of them. The moment Sakura stepped out, she half smiled and half frowned, she masked her heart's content so well from her teammates. She was always told that she was weak because she couldn't hide her feelings, her emotions. Her feelings would be her doom, if she chose the path of a kunoichi; she heard that phrase all the time when she was young. Young and naive. She proved them wrong. A smile made its way on her face with her last thought and her she gained more confidence and strength on her pace.

She noticed that she was still in a forest but the climate was very different than the one in Konoha. It was cooler and she guessed that she must be somewhere in the north. The forest was different too. It wasn't as thick as the one at home, but the trees were taller and narrower. This forest was more beautiful. The sun was illuminating it with a faint light, giving to the leaves around her an emerald and golden glow. Sakura decided that this forest looked as if it came straight from the stories she used to read when she was still a child. Stories about elves, maidens, dragons and other majestic creatures, she smiled remembering the western fairy tales she used to adore. She was so mesmerized from the forest's beauty that she didn't notice that she was following the creek.

She was walking for a couple of hours and soon she begun to see the entrance of the forest but at the same time her strength begun to fade. She decided to rest for a while. She sat comfortably between a tree's roots to recover herself. Time flew and she was on the road again. Finally she exited the forest and she caught the sight of a weird house in the distance. She decided to go there, act as a lost girl and ask for food for her and her friends, if they were friendly. In the case that the people living there were hostile she would hide herself, steal something to eat if possible and go back as fast as she could. If she could, she corrected herself.

The house was getting clearer in view as she approached it, but apparently her vision was getting blurry as well. She scowled. Just a few feet and she were there. She was sweating more and she found breathing harder and harder by the minute. Now she was limping and her knees begun to shake. Almost there, she pushed herself mentally and physically. She reached a trembling hand at the small crooked door that led to the garden of the lone house. She couldn't stand anymore. Her knees couldn't hold her weight. _Not now, I'm almost there. _Sakura thought desperately, trying to cling to consciousness. She tried to grasp the door for support but to no success. Sakura fell to the ground with a hollow sound, and the last thing she heard was the sound of two pairs of footsteps rushing to where she was. And then everything turned black.

While Sakura was gone, Sasuke and Sai were sitting in the cave with nothing to do. They both hated the fact that Sakura was alone in unfamiliar territory and they couldn't do anything if she was in trouble. They both hated not knowing. They would never admit it but they were worried for her safety. Naruto was still asleep. Actually he woke up thirty minutes ago realized that there was nothing eatable, mumbled something including the words "prefer" "dream" and "ramen" and fell back to sleep like nothing had happened, while cuddling at his backpack once more and drooling from the right corner of his mouth.

Sasuke and Sai had the same thought. How idiot their friend looked. But they smiled nonetheless. It was Sai that spoke what crossed their minds.

"He's getting more stupid as he's getting older."

Sasuke smirked in return, showing his agreement to the previous statement. Sai got up and excused himself, saying that he was going outside to keep watch just for a precaution. Sasuke was left alone in the cave lost in his own thoughts.

His mind traveled to the moment he saw his best friend again after many years, and because of the cheerful blond boy his life took another turn. It was only six months ago that he was redeemed of his crimes and was declared innocent. A sad smile graced his lips as he remembered how it all happened. After Orochimaru's death he was wandering alone searching for his brother. But to no avail. There was no sign of him or his whereabouts. One day his path brought him to a fighting Naruto. Naruto was fighting against twenty rouge-nins and was losing, he was fighting for what seemed to be hours and his body was giving up on him. In an impulse moment, Sasuke helped Naruto to defeat his foes.

They spent the rest of the night reforming their once broken bonds. They talked about everything, all night long. Naruto was trying to convince him to return to Konoha. And he did. He said that "baa-chan" would defiantly forgive him, and at the same time he was grinning like he had just found a sack full of gold. Sasuke on the other hand realized what he had found. A heart of gold.

It took the elders and Tsunade three weeks to trust him and set him free. He was interrogated daily to prove his regret and that he was free from the thoughts of power he once had, but no matter what Naruto said they wouldn't believe him. The elders would never hear the words of the Kyuubi vessel. Only Tsunade was taking Naruto's word seriously, since she had a soft spot for the fox boy she was willing to listen to him. She actually gave to Sasuke his current nickname, which he hated. The Uchiha brat or just brat that was how Tsunade called him "affectionately" and she actually stuck it to a lot of people. One day they decided he had repented and they released him under the term of being watched over by Naruto constantly. He didn't mind though, he couldn't think of a better term himself. Even though he was the one who watched over Naruto most of the time since the dunce was always getting himself into trouble. A faint smile graced his lips with the memories of his friend coming to him.

Apparently no one except Naruto and a few other high-ranked people from the village knew of his return. The night he was set free Naruto decided to invite everyone he knew at the bar to celebrate. The rookie nine, Gai's team and even Gaara, Kankurou and Temari, who were there for some affairs about the Akatsuki, were all oblivious as to why Naruto was buying them drinks but they came after all. Sasuke found out, to his shock and horror that Naruto wasn't kidding when he said that he was dating Hinata. At that moment he found a new respect for the shy heiress. She was the only person that he knew who actually had a sane mind and was dating Naruto with her own free will. Sasuke noticed that they weren't the only couple among them. Shikamaru had an open relationship with the "troublesome" Temari, Tenten was with Lee and Ino had something going on with Sai.

But the biggest shock of the evening was when he met Sakura. He expected that she would come to him, cry while holding him in a tight embrace and declare her undying love for him. He was very wrong. When they met each other she gave him a sweet, too sweet to be good, smile, and the next thing he knew he was flying out of the pub and hitting his head on a tree with amazing speed. Of course she healed him afterwards but he was still dumbstruck at her strength and reaction. Apparently Neji tried to hold her but she escaped from his grasp with ease. After that he became her self-proclaimed brother and friend, just like Sai and Naruto.

And then there was Neji. Because Naruto was dating Hinata, her father wasn't willing to let those two alone,_ who would anyway_? so Neji was forced by him to be with them in their dates. And so for the couple to have a little privacy, Sakura was going with them keeping Neji company and at the same time giving some privacy and some time alone to the happy couple. Neji and Sakura grew closer to each other, and they would hang out occasionally, without Naruto and Hinata. They had an attraction towards each other but they never showed it to each other. Naturally everyone else knew of their feelings except them. Sasuke could easily see it, without the Saringan, but he chose not to make a big deal from it.

It was funny how things have changed. As time healed most scars Sasuke could say that for the first time after years he was actually happy.

Outside the cave, Sai was leaning against the entrance having different thoughts from his companion. His mind wasn't only at Sakura, whose whereabouts were currently unknown, but at the situation they unwillingly found themselves in, and at the mission they successfully completed.

The mission was to track down and kill, the moment they found them, an army of bandits at the western Konoha border, but unfortunately the enemy had both skill and numbers. They attacked and were going to complete the mission when Sakura was distracted for a mere second. They took the chance and captured her, and when they found out that she was the Hokage's apprentice they wanted to use her for blackmailing Konoha. Eventually everything turned out fine. They got Sakura back, beat the bandits to death but they were also beaten up pretty badly themselves and they needed rest before they returned home. And then, all of a sudden without a reasonable explanation, they found themselves at an unknown place and had no idea what to do to get out of. Something was fishy from the start.

As the hours passed and Sakura was still away they grew impatient. Naruto was finally up and was his usual cheerful self once again. Sasuke and Sai were ready to strangle him. Their patience was getting diminished as Naruto kept on bubbling about anything he could imagine. And he had an awfully large imagination. From ramen to his dream of becoming the Hokage, to Hinata and even how strong Rock Lee had became, he talked and talked and wasn't going to finish anytime soon. Any normal person would have already beaten him to silence. They were hungry, tired and with the exception of Naruto who was almost healed, they still had a big amount of wounds on their bodies.

After a couple, or more precisely a lot more than a "couple", of gruesome threats Naruto finally shut up. Both shinobi thanked whatever divine force closed his mouth. Sai and Sasuke were talking about the current situation, and were so lost in their talk, never noticing the saddened look on their friend's face. He didn't show it but he was confused, and what bothered him the most, was the Akatsuki. The others never thought about it, but what if this was a well designed trap. What if they did all this to capture the demon within him? And on top of that one of his best friends was nowhere to be seen. After he woke up his friends explained to him where Sakura went and the only thing he could do was to wait for her to come back, just like them. He also had an ugly feeling at the pit of his stomach. He had found out from past experiences, that when he had that awful feeling something was going to happen. Something bad was going to happen. Ironically what was heard next didn't prove him wrong.

A sound caught their attention. All of a sudden they heard footsteps approaching their shelter. A lot of footsteps, they were more than just one person. They weren't Sakura's for sure; they knew all too well their familiar light sound. The footsteps could belong to mere travelers, but they could also belong to enemies or even worst certain enemies who wore black cloaks with red clouds on them, and called themselves "dawn". They took out their weapons and they were ready to defend themselves with everything they had. They knew that if the attacker was strong they didn't stand a chance in the state they were. But they decided without words that they would do their best and hope it was enough. Sai had a brush ready, Sasuke was ready to perform the necessary seals for Katon-no-jutsu and Naruto had kunais on his hand ready to send them to the intruder. At any minute now the people would enter the cave and the three Shinobi were ready. Ready to strike. Ready to defend their lives. Ready to give their all to the upcoming fight.


	2. the girl from nowhere

This is chapter two. I'm not very pleased with it but I'm posting it anyway. Besides I had some very interesting thoughts planned for later chapters, and I have thought of some very interesting twists. This chapter is 5.500 words! I never thought I could write something this long! Anyway I hope you will like it! Read and review.

**2. The girl from nowhere **

A big explosion made the hole ground shake violently. A girl shrieked as she heard the loud sudden noise and felt the ground tremble beneath her feet. A woman in her early fifties yelled as loud as she could.

"Stupid! Irresponsible brats! I raised you better than that! Brainless gits! For the hundredth time no experiments inside the house! Do you want to destroy the roof you're staying under? If you do that one more time I swear to God, I will…."

The two identical red haired boys never got a chance to hear their mother's rant, as they ran as fast as they could away from the red faced woman, who was now steaming from anger. The wise part of their brains told them to stay as far away as possible from her. They exited from the back door of the house and avoided with amazing ease the flying object that came from their younger sister's direction. As soon as they were outside, they stopped at the back yard and fell literally to the floor laughing like mad men.

"That was bloody brilliant!" The first one stated to the other while breathing hard after so much laughing.

"Yes it was! But still one of this day's mom's going to chop of our heads…." He trailed off as he looked in the direction of the house in mock seriousness.

"Yeah, but then she will have to face the court as she will have to explain why she brutally murdered her two little angels. Imagine the headlines on the Daily Prophet." The second finished as he cracked up again, his brother following his example and laughing harder this time.

The two seventeen year old boys continued to laugh and joke as they sat lazily at the grass. Their happy laughter turned into a scowl when they heard their father calling them.

"Fred! George! Go and clean the front yard from some nasty roots! You can't sit all day and do nothing! It's your mother's orders!"

"I swear to God, she must have taken a vow or something, to make our lives miserable!" Fred exclaimed as he raised his hands in defeat. He dares not to defy his mother's orders though.

"You got that right mate." George said and stood up as well. The twins took off, for the front yard. Maybe they could play with their mother's nerves later as a revenge for ruining their day's plans. The plans included laziness, doing pranks, experimenting for their products and other questionable activities.

Fred and George were cleaning the garden for a good half hour when George noticed a figure in the distance. It was walking towards their house's direction and the boys wondered who the person was. It couldn't be someone from one of Voldemort's followers, because this person was way too obvious to be an enemy. As the figure came closer, they could see that it was a female and probably about their age as well. They watched uncertainly as her figure became clearer. She wore a big blue shirt, that probably wasn't hers and she had an unnatural color for hair; it was a soft shade of pink. Maybe she was a witch and had magically dyed them. But those two facts weren't what caught most of their attention.

It was the fact that now that she was closer they could see her in more details. She looked a complete mess. Her hair were uncombed and messy, she had dirt and dried blood all over her body. The pink haired girl was walking strangely, as she had to put a huge effort in every step that she made. Her body was bruised and had fresh scars on her fair complexion. That alarmed the boys, but they somehow couldn't move. This was the first time in their lives that they came across something like this. Even though in the world of wizards someone could see many strange things, a wounded girl wasn't one of them. They eyed her with interest and where thinking of what their actions should be.

All their doubts fell out the window as they saw her falling from exhaustion right in front of their door. The two boys ran at her side as fast as they could. Fred and George leaned down and watched the girl closely. She didn't seem like an enemy. Fred reached out his hand and moved her pink hair away from her face. Now they could clearly see her angelic features. She possessed and exotic beauty and she looked like she was Asian. Maybe she was of Chinese heritage like that girl from Ravenclaw. Fred looked at his brother silently asking of what to do. George's features twisted as he was clearly thinking over the situation. After a pause he turned and looked at his brother in the eyes.

"I think we should take her inside… I mean look at her. She looks like a mess and she probably have been through something horrible. Someone must have beaten her. Look at her wounds. Something tells me that she didn't just trip and fell down the stairs. Mom or Dad will probably know what to do."

Fred gave his brother a nod, showing his agreement. Then George lifted the girl's unconscious body with ease, and carried her through the garden inside the house, his brother right behind him.

The moment the twins entered the house their mother heard them and stomped off the kitchen prepared to yell at them for skipping their chore. When she came out, her words stopped in mid air as her eyes fell on the girl in hers son's arms. Mrs. Weasley rushed to the girl and ordered George to bring her to the living room and place her on the couch. He complied and did as he was told. Both boys looked bewilder as they inspected the girl's beautiful face for a second time that day.

Mrs. Weasley called for her husband and then she ordered the boys to bring her a bucket with fresh water and a cloth. Now at the living room was Ron, the twins' younger brother along with his friend who visited for the summer, Hermione and their younger sister Ginny. After they heard Mrs. Weasley's loud voice they ran from the room they were sitting in, towards the direction of Mrs. Weasley's voice, as curiosity took over them. The three teens looked questionably from Mrs. Weasley to the twins and the girl lying on the couch.

"Mom who is she?" Ron pointed a finger at the unconscious girl and asked his mother; he was waiting for an answer as his eyes were now fixed upon the unconscious girl.

"George and I found her as she collapsed on the door. I have no idea who she is but she doesn't look well." Fred answered to his brother.

"Boys, please leave the room, I'm going take of her clothes so I can clean her wounds and take care of her. Girls you can stay and help. Arthur call Dumbledore, he will know what to do. I don't know but there is something strange about this girl."

All the people in the room mumbled a yes or something similar and proceeded to do as they were told. The three brothers went to the kitchen, and as they entered they saw their older brother Bill, who had just aparated inside the kitchen, probably returning from work. Bill saw the weird looks on his siblings' faces and he knew in an instant that something was up.

"Anyone caring to enlighten me on what is going on?" he asked as he sat down on a chair and watched his brothers doing the same. Then both Fred and George proceeded in explaining the whole situation.

In another room of the house Mr. Weasley was using flue powder in order to contact with Grimaud place. Soon in the kitchen's fireplace of the said house appeared the very alarmed face of Arthur Weasley. A man with black hair and aged before their time features greeted the red haired man.

"Hello Arthur what brings you to my humble home?" Sirius asked; boredom and sarcasm evident in his voice.

"Listen is Dumbledore here? Something strange happened a while ago." Mr. Weasley said impatiently not caring for a greeting.

"He's in the bathroom. He arrived a few minutes ago. Wait I'll call him." And he stood to call Dumbledore but stopped seconds later when a very old man entered the gloomy kitchen. When he saw the man's face from the fireplace he immediately knew that something was up and stepped closer to him in order to talk to him.

"There's no need for that Sirius, I'm already here. What's wrong Arthur?" he skipped the greetings as well and got directly to the chase.

"A while ago the twins found an unconscious girl at our doorstep. But the problem is that we have anti-muggle spells in a fifty meter perimeter and this girl passed through all of them untouched. And there's more. The girl was badly beaten. And when I say badly I mean she looked like she had just escaped from grave danger. Wait a minute Molly is saying something to me…"

A pause followed and they could see the weird look on Mr. Weasley's face.

"Molly just said that she finished cleaning the girl. She had scars all over her body, both old and new. She also had some strange weapons with her as well. Dumbledore what should we do?"

"I'm coming over and see for myself. Well everything you tell me is extremely weird. I would like to be there when the girl wakes up. Well I'm aparating now." The old man smiled raised his hand in a goodbye manner towards Sirius, and disappeared from the room only to reappear moments later next to a very confused Arthur Weasley.

"Arthur would you mind explaining to me the situation with more details this time please, and could you show me the girl?"

"Sure follow me." As the two men walked towards the living room, Mr. Weasley said everything to Dumbledore. He only nodded as he heard the other man talk. When they entered the living room they saw that everyone was sitting around the girl, probably waiting for their arrival. Dumbledore approached her as she silently slept unaware of the people around her.

"Strange, very strange…" Dumbledore mumbled to himself as he scratched his chin through his white beard. He leaned closer to her and inspected her from a small distance. He watched her face as her expression changed so lightly that only he could see. She was probably dreaming of something unpleasant.

"You say that this girl passed through all the anti-muggle spells, but I don't sense any magical powers inside of her. Yet still she managed to pass through them. Strange, very strange…" he repeated as his eyes averted from her face to the wounds on her arms. Her body was covered with a blanket and he could not see the rest of the scars that Mrs. Weasley mentioned. The other people in the room were hanging from the old man's lips waiting for something that could explain the situation to them.

"Could I see the weapons that Arthur mentioned?" he asked to no one particular while his eyes were still on the girl.

"Of… of course…" Mrs. Weasley said and motioned to the weapons that were beside the table of the couch. They were on top of neatly folded clothes.

"Ah… I've seen weapons like this when I went to Japan many years ago." He mumbled as he inspected them closely and then placed them back upon the clothes.

"Now we wait for her to wake up." Dumbledore smiled and lightened the heavy mood that the whole room had fallen into.

Dumbledore sat on the couch across from the sleeping girl and soon Mr. and Mrs. Weasley followed his example and sat down beside him. The siblings and Hermione sat down at other chairs in the living room, with the exception of Bill, who chose to lean against the wall. Now they could do nothing more than wait. Soon they started talking to each other, and the younger inhabitants of the room found a good conversation in trying to come up with scenarios for the girl's story.

"Fred, George could you tell me again how you found the girl? I need to hear the story again." Dumbledore said and smiled at the twins interrupting their conversation. They begun telling their story again, leaving no details out. No one seemed to notice that a certain person was listening to their conversation without anybody's knowledge. Well except Dumbledore. He already knew. He just waited for the person to make its presence known.

Sakura woke up with an awful headache and a very unwelcomed buzzing noise to her ears. She noticed that the buzz was talking, in a language she had never heard before. Her mind calculated the situation. Her weapons. She needed her weapons but she couldn't feel them anywhere strapped on her body. Someone must have taken them from her. She opened her eyes so slightly so no one could notice that she was awake. Sakura spotted them on the table next to her. She was in deep trouble and she knew it. She began to panic. Many questions had formed in her mind, and she couldn't find an answer for any of them.

Sakura didn't know what to do. Her mind made a rush decision. She was ready to play everything she had. With one swift movement she grabbed a kunai from the table next to her and jumped off the couch, to land right behind it, her body immediately taking a defensive stance. Her eyes wondered across the people in the room, and lingered to each person's face as if calculating them and their strength. Some of them didn't look like a threat, but her eyes stopped on the elder man with white hair and beard. There was something about him that screamed power. He didn't seem like Orochimaru, who was powerful but evil at the same time, and everybody knew to stay as far away as possible from the snake sannin. He was more like Tsunade and Jiraiya, who both seemed friendly and approachable at first, but when someone angered them or threatened them, they possessed a tremendous power that was fearsome and lethal.

The middle-aged woman came closer to her and spoke in a language that Sakura could not understand.

"Are you alright? Who are you? We found you and we took care of you." Mrs. Weasley had more to say but stopped when she met the gaze of the now fully awake girl. It was a menacing glare that clearly said "don't come close or you're finished" and if someone didn't get that, she lifted her hand with the kunai and changed the angle, from which she held it, from defensive to an offensive.

"Please Miss, we mean you no harm." Mrs. Weasley spoke for a second time in order to calm down the clearly panicked girl.

"_Don't come close or you're finished!" _Sakura said with a growl, even though she knew that no one spoke her language she took her chance. Her voice was low and threatening and if they couldn't understand her language they could understand her tone. She was utterly shocked when she heard a reply in her language.

"_Forgive us for scaring you like that. You collapsed on the __Weasley's__' front door, and they found you and took care of you. There's no need for you do be afraid. I'm __Dumbledore__Albus__, a mere school headmaster__."_ He finished in perfect Japanese and extended his hand in a greeting and polite manner.

Everybody's face was shocked including Sakura's. She stood there pondering on what to do. She bit her bottom lip nervously and tightened the hold on her kunai. She didn't know if she could trust this man or not. There was something about him that told her that this man was sincere and that she should trust him. But being a shinobi meant to not be distracted by appearances no matter how good they looked. Look beneath the underneath, she remembered Kakashi's words. But being in the desperate situation that she had found herself into she chose to trust him. She had a feeling about this and it was a good one, so she followed it.

"_Haruno __Sakura__Please__d__ to meet you." _She added the last part in a low voice. And at that moment she realized that she stood in a room full of foreign people dressed in nothing but her underwear. When the thought hit her, her eyes grew large from shock, her cheeks turned red from embarrassment and she griped the blanket from the couch and covered her almost naked body with it.

"Molly, do you have a translating potion?" Dumbledore asked and looked at the woman in the eye hopefully.

"Yes. Give me a minute." She then left the room to find the potion.

"_We will give you__ a__potion__that will make you understand our__ language, there is nothing __wrong__ with __it__. Ok?" _Dumbledore asked Sakura. She nodded her head and waited for Mrs. Weasley to return with the potion.

Moments later Mrs. Weasley returned with a bottle, which contained a potion with a vivid purple color and a spoon. She handed to Sakura the bottle and the spoon.

_"Just a spoon will be more than enough."_ Dumbledore said and gave to the still scared girl a reassuring look. She did as she was told and the moment she tasted the sweet taste of the potion she felt a tingling sensation go through her body and then she just looked questioningly at Dumbledore. He smiled at her and gesture to everyone to sit down.

"Now that everyone can understand everyone, can you tell us your story?" and he send to Sakura another warm and reassuring smile. She on the other hand hesitated. Dumbledore noticed that and tried to calm her down.

"As you can see we are no enemies of you. This people found you and took care of you, they would never hurt you. This is Arthur and Molly Weasley, and these are their children Ron, Fred and George, oh! Sorry! George and Fred, Ginny and Bill. And this is Hermione Granger, Ron's friend." He introduced everyone in the room.

"My name is Haruno Sakura. My first name is Sakura and my family name is Haruno." She added when she remembered that Dumbledore said the persons' given name first and then their last name. She then took a big breath and begun telling the strange story and how she had found herself in this mess.

"Well me and my friends, were returning home from a… a job, and we needed shelter for the night 'cause we were all injured. Well Naruto and Sasuke-kun were in a really bad state, and Sai wasn't better than me… So we chose to stay at a cave we found for the night. Well anyway we fell asleep there but when we woke up at the morning, we found ourselves in a completely new world. We first thought that maybe there was a genjutsu or something to explain the obvious differences on the scenery, but then we found out that it wasn't anything like that. Someone had to scout the area for information and since I was in a better condition than my teammates, I left the cave and the road led me to your house." All the time that she talked everybody was silent and was hanging from her lips.

Sakura was now eating with a very fast pace the food that Mrs. Weasley had offered her.

Dumbledore was listening carefully, her words sinking into his mind. The words "job" and "genjutsu" caught his attention. He also noticed that her story was incomplete.

"Can you describe the cave miss Haruno?" Dumbledore asked politely.

"Yes… Well it was just like any other cave on the area, except some strange markings that were all over the place." Dumbledore's eyes had a glint in them, like he had just discovered something. He was about to ask from Sakura to take him to the cave when she beat him to it.

"Thank you so much for your help, but I must return to my teammates. They are probably going to kill me if I let them wait for me any longer."

"But of course! And we are coming with you. I need to see the cave closely in order to find what brought you here." Dumbledore rose from the chair. "We will wait for you to get dressed and lead us. Ok?"

"Ok." Sakura smiled and waited for everyone to get out from the room. When she finished she opened the door and called for them to come in.

"We're coming too." Fred and George said in unison.

"Me too." Bill said in amusement. He always found adventures of any kind very appealing.

"Well let's get going." Added Mr. Weasley and headed for the door.

"I'll have cooked something for when you come back." Mrs. Weasley yelled from the door as she waved them goodbye.

"Miss Haruno, there are more things we need to discuss, but we will wait so your friends can participate in the conversation as well."

"Of course Dumbledore-san."

It was getting dark and Sakura was leading them through the forest, which looked different now that that there was less light. The forest seem more intimidating and had something macabre yet beautiful in it. The red and purple sky looked amazing through the trees. Sakura was amazed by this forest. If only there was a forest like this in her world. Her eyes softened when she remembered her home. Her home reminded to her, her teammates. She hoped that nothing had happened to them. She hid her worry very well; no one noticed her mood changing.

Sakura's eyes were adjusting in the darkness, but the wizards found it hard to look in the dark. They took out their wands and mumbled "luminous". As soon as the words escaped their mouths Sakura gasped. These people had just created light from a wooden stick. Fred and George caught her look.

"Haven't you seen magic before?" they asked in one voice. The amused looks on their faces were hard to not notice.

"Magic? Magic doesn't exist. There are a lot of strange techniques, but there's no such thing as magic." She said, as logic controlled her words and thoughts.

"So… you're not a witch." Fred said more to himself than her, as he scratched his chin. She only shook her head in denial.

"And what are you? You're definitely not a muggle." George exclaimed in confusion.

"A what? I'm a shinobi from Konoha! I'm actually a medic, specialized in healing!" she said with pride in her voice.

"Shinobi? As in ninja? Wow! That's so cool! But no offense, you don't look like one." One of the twins said, she noticed that it was George. Even though for others it was hard to tell the difference, she could easily tell who was who. She was trained to notice the details that regular people couldn't see after all.

"You know George; I could send you directly to the cave with just one punch." She said as a wicked grin found its place across her lips.

"Yeah right…." Fred mocked her. Bad move. She gathered chakra on her hand and went a little ahead of them. She then crashed her fist to the ground. It tore open as cracks were now visible, from the place where her fist had connected until the twins' feet. She looked up and smiled.

"Wow! That was bloody awesome! She wasn't lying! Can you do anything else?" the twins chorused together. Sakura giggled but then she fell to the ground tired.

"Ah. Bad move. I'm not fully healed yet and I don't have enough chakra, maybe some other time?" She said happily as she looked at the two young men that were now by her side. Sakura tried to stand up but she found it very hard. She made an irritated sound catching everyone's attention.

"You can't stand, can you?" Fred asked. His reply was the shake of her head. He then lifted her up and gesture at his back. "I'll carry you." He said with a smile on his face. Sakura accepted his offer, climbed onto his back and circled her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.

"Awe! Little Freddy is such a gentleman! A true knight! The only thing missing is the dragon for you to slave!" his brother laughed loudly at the pair.

"Shut up George! You're just jealous that I'm with a pretty girl and you're not." George just kicked him in response and laughed even louder, this time accompanied by Sakura's laughter as well.

Her tired body welcomed the heat from the young man's back and rested her head above his shoulder blades. She liked the twins very much. They were funny and had a good heart. They also had an innocence she had lost some time ago. Of course they were devils when it came to teasing, pranks and stuff like that, but they had never seen death up close, they had never lost a comrade in a battle. They had the hopes and dreams like any other normal people, not caring for wars and gruesome fights.

Fred smiled at her actions. He already liked this girl. She was full of life. She was smiling and she seemed polite. But she wasn't a quiet little girl; she could stand on her own. But she also had sharpness in her eyes, just like some aurors from the ministry, who had seen horrible and terrifying things. Her eyes held the signs that her life wasn't easy. He expected it after she said she was a ninja.

They continued walking ahead as Sakura gave instructions for the cave's location. As the three teens laughed and joked, the three men behind them talked about the gruesome times they were living in and the strange girl that could apparently crack the ground.

"What do you think about the girl Dumbledore?" Mr. Weasley asked the elder man.

"I think she is very strong and her friends are probably even stronger. She's not from this world. That I can assure you. Who's keeping guard on the ministry tonight?" Dumbledore changed the subject, like he was trying to avoid getting into more details.

"Tonks and then me." Bill answered as he watched the pink haired girl intently.

Sakura turned her head and yelled to the men a few feet away from her.

"We're almost there!"

Three edgy shinobi were waiting in anticipation as the sound of footsteps was more audible as the minutes passed. They could see the figures' shadows a few feet away from the cave. Then two identical people entered the cave. No, not two but three. One of the two was carrying someone on his back. They were ready to attack when a pink head came in view and the three teammates stopped moving. Shock was all over their faces.

_"Hi! I'm back and I brought help." _She said cheerfully. The moment Sakura spoke three more men entered the cave. Sai and Sasuke inspected the strangers. Four of the five people had red hair and appeared to be relatives. The fifth looked very old but he had an amazing light within his eyes that showed wisdom, intelligence and power.

Naruto on the other hand, was looking with a hateful glare at Fred who still had Sakura on his back. Then he looked at Sakura in the eyes, and his eyes changed to a sad and concerned gaze. His lips pouted and he approached them slowly at first, extended his hand and grabbed Sakura with amazing speed. Then he hugged her tightly.

_"Oh! Sakura-chan! I missed yo__u so much! Why did you leave us? Why?__ I was so worried__ about you__ The bastards wouldn't tell me details! And… __And who was this ugly boy that was carrying you? I hope you didn't gave him your… AH! What was that for?"_ Naruto asked while clutching his head. Sakura had hit with him full force.

"_Because you're saying stupid things! I told you! They helped me! Anyway __there are things we must discuss__."_

_"She's right dickless."_ Naruto just growled at Sai.

_"And why this boy," _Sasuke motioned his hand towards Fred, "_was carrying you?"_ Sasuke's overprotective side kicked in. He didn't like the fact that Sakura was with strangers, and one of them was being very intimate towards her. They could be enemies. His musings stopped when the old man coughed and everyone's eyes where fixed on him.

"Sakura-san they should take the potion that you took earlier, so we could all communicate better." He then proceeded to take from within his robes the same bottle which contained the purple potion.

"_Ok, __guys__ you must drink a little from this potion __so you can understand what they're__ saying. Ther__e's nothing wrong with it. __I drank it __myself."_

_"But __Sakura__. What if it's poison or something?"_

_"He's right hag. Maybe Naruto should try it first and if he's still alive __afterwards then__ we might drink it."_

_"Hey! I'm not a test subject!"_

_"__I told__ you, I already dru__nk it and I'm perfectly fine. See__ no second head or something like that. Besides I'm a medic. I know how to tell the difference between a potion and a poison__ and I can assure that it is harmless__."_

_"__Alright__! If __Sakura__-chan took it then I will take it as well!" _Naruto took the bottle and the spoon from Sakura's hands and helped himself to it. When he finished, he grinned and looked at Sasuke in the eyes.

"The bastard is afraid to drink a little potion. What a great Uchiha." His grin was still in place as Sasuke caught without an effort the bottle and spoon that Naruto tossed to him. He then smirked towards Naruto. The twins laughed as they could understand what the blonde was saying. They already liked him. He had the same air of a prankster around him like they did, something that the twins appreciated very much.

"I'm not afraid dunce. I was just using you as test subject. Go ahead Sai, there's nothing wrong with it."

Naruto frowned and was about to begin a fight with Sasuke when the twins approached him.

"Is he always like that?" they asked Naruto and looking a little too intensely, too be out of mere interests, at Sasuke.

"Unfortunately…" with that answer the twins' eyes lit up. Naruto caught their look and grinned in return; the grin he used when he was planning something.

"What do you have in mind?" he asked, even though his not so innocent mind had a very good idea about it.

"Oh… a lot of…" Fred begun.

"… Interesting ideas." George finished. Their smile mirrored Naruto's at this moment.

"Might if I make a few suggestions?" Naruto asked in the same tone. His prankster side jumping with joy.

"We'll be happy to hear." Then the three mischievous young men looked at Sasuke and then at Sai, same thoughts in mind.

Sai looked oddly at the bottle and hesitated for a moment before he performed the same motions that his teammates did before him. He then looked at Dumbledore who was ignoring the little scene before him. The old man was tracing the markings with his long aged fingers and was mumbling to himself. His eyes held a skeptical look that didn't go unnoticed from the artist.

Sakura checked the condition of her teammates and smiled when she was happy with what she saw. Naruto was almost as perfect as he once was. Sasuke's wounds still needed a couple of days to fully heal, and Sai was much better than last night. She thanked god that they were all out of grave danger. Then she caught the twins and Naruto standing close to each other and decided it was time for introductions.

"Well this is Weasley-san, his sons Bill, Fred and George. And this is Dumbledore-san. And these are my teammates. Naruto, Sasuke and Sai." Sakura finished with the introductions. Now everybody was staring at each other, no one ready to talk yet.

"Well why don't we go to the Weasley's house so we can discuss the situation?" Dumbledore broke the silence after a few minutes. Then he took a piece of wood from the ground, pointed it with the tip of his wand and mumbled "port-key". "Now please touch the wood so we can get to the house faster."

The four shinobi looked at each other and then one by one touched the wood, along with the Weasley's and Dumbledore.

**

* * *

** the shinobi are at the Weasley's house and they discuss things with Dumbledore, who seems to know something. Explanations will be given and the four shinobi will try to comprehend the situation. Also arrangements are made for their stay. That and more trivial things at chapter three! 


	3. explanations

So here's chapter 3! I finished this really fast! yay! Anyway thank you for the reviews! Thank you ero-kun, and I hope I didn't make Naruto too dumb! This chapter is 6200 words! Woot woot!!! Anyway I'm very pleased with this one! It's so much better than the previous. I've noticed that the plot is evolving slowly, I'm sorry if you don't like that, but I'm the writer!!! R&R

**3. Explanations **

The four shinobi nodded to each other and touched the piece of wood along with Dumbledore and the Weasley's. Suddenly they felt like a claw had grabbed them from their bellybuttons and pulled them with amazing force to an unknown place. All of a sudden they were falling rapidly towards the void. Blurry colors and unclear images swirled in frenzy around them. Soon the images became clearer as they fell.

All of a sudden they hit something solid. They were now standing in front of a big odd looking old house. Sasuke and Sai had landed perfectly on their feet; on the contrary Sakura was clinging to Naruto trying to keep her balance. Sasuke helped her stand along with Naruto.

How in the world they were just transported from the cave directly to the house by touching a stick, was beyond them. Dumbledore would probably explain it to them later.

Sakura noticed that the condition they were in was unnatural. Their wounds had healed way to fast. Normally they shouldn't be able to stand like that after so many wounds, some of them close to being fatal. She dismissed the thought for later, now they needed to get inside.

Mrs. Weasley opened the door and called for everyone to follow her inside the house. She led them through the kitchen door towards the backyard, where a big table was placed. On the table was a prepared dinner, for a considerable amount of people. Naruto's eyes where shining with glee. The delicious smells were so welcomed, and the food itself was even better. He was hungry and tired; and a good meal was what he needed.

"Please everyone take your places." Mrs. Weasley said a little too loud and pointed at the table.

The twins, Ron and Hermione, Ginny and Bill were seated the one next to the other. Dumbledore was seated at the one head of the table and Mr. Weasley at the other, his wife sitting on his left. There were four empty seats waiting for the four-man group. But no one made a move. Dumbledore sensed the discomfort emitting from them.

"Would you please join us?"

"Of course ojii-san!" Naruto's voice was so loud that a tiny leprechaun run away from the table and hid at a hole in the ground.

Hesitatingly the other three followed his example and took their places as well.

"Now you all know Miss Sakura, but you don't know her friends." Dumbledore stated with a very calm and soft voice. "This is Naruto, Sasuke and Sai." With every name that he said he showed the person that the name referred to with his hand.

"That's me! Ha ha ha! Well you all look like a lot…"

"Pay no attention to his runt. He's an idiot."

"Why did you say that bastard? I'm not an idiot!"

"I believe that Sasuke is right. You are an idiot."

"Will you stop being immature for once?" Sakura hissed under her breath, gave a very threatening piercing look to her three teammates and smiled politely at the rest of the people around the table.

Mr. Weasley cleared his throat directing the attention on him.

"Well let me introduce you those you haven't met yet. This is my wife Molly, my son Ron and our youngest and only daughter Ginny. And this is Ron's friend Hermione. Now let's eat and then we can talk!"

For the next half hour no one talked. The only sounds that could be heard were the ones coming from the people eating, the clutching of plates, forks and knives, the chewing sounds. Apart from those sounds there was an uncomfortable silence.

When Dumbledore spoke no one was entirely finished.

"Well now we can talk. I'm sorry for cutting you in the middle of your meal, but I have some businesses to attend to."

"Dumbledore-san, I saw you noticing something in the cave. Would you like to share it with us?" Sai's question was more of a statement than a request. His dark eyes were watching at Dumbledore with intensity, searching for what was going on inside the elder's mind.

"Ah… straight to the point. What a smart young man. Well if you insist I will answer to you. But in order to reach a good complete conclusion I will need your whole story and not the lacking one that Miss Haruno gave me."

Sakura immediately felt uncomfortable. His statement wasn't a complete insult but it wasn't a praising one either. Her hand was holding the chair's arm so intently, it almost broke. Naruto caught his friend's reaction fast. He liked the old man, but he gave him a feeling of unease. He could ask with the kindest of voices the most morbid thing in the world. And he would ask it in a way where you were put in a situation that you couldn't refuse.

Naruto placed his strong hand above hers and squeezed it reassuringly. His eyes were now serious and held protectiveness in them, he had the look he used when one of his friends was in trouble and he had to help him out. Her heart felt lighter. And she smiled back at him. Hinata was a lucky woman. If he was so determinant to fight his friends' battles then his lover would always feel safe, something a lot of shinobi never felt.

Naruto cleared his throat in an aggravated manner.

"Sakura-chan shouldn't have said anything. You should feel lucky she told you something. Information like these is not for outsiders of our village. I don't blame her, she trusts you and that's enough. But insulting her like that is not tolerated. "

Everyone was quiet, their eyes fixed on Naruto. Sasuke smiled a little, and Sai never showed it but he felt grateful towards the blonde. Sakura on the other hand was shocked.

"Well then I must apologize to Miss Haruno. I'm really sorry." Dumbledore's lips formed a very warm smile. No one could hold a grudge against him. His smile was sincere, honest and goodhearted.

"We're cool now. But don't insult my friends like that." Naruto then laughed loudly. Soon he was followed but Dumbledore's laughter as well.

"Well without further delay, let me tell you my theory about your situation. There are many different worlds that co-exist with each other. That theory was formed by wizards at 193ac. Four hundred years later through experiments a group of wizards, also known as alchemists, were able to make some sort of gates to connect the worlds with each others. But in order to achieve the opening of the gates it was required a big amount of energy, that couldn't be found at the time. So my question is what kind of power triggered the gates to open?"

"Could it be the k…?" Sakura's voice stopped by Sasuke's nudge. Sakura thought that the nine tails' chakra was the power needed. If Naruto's healing abilities were based on the endless amount of chakra from the nine tails, then while it was healing him it was also leaking out of him and provided the amount of power needed.

"But the gates don't just open when power is being provided. The stars and planets must be in a very complicated lining. It is very hard to determine the lining right now. I would need time in order to do that and since you were sent here at difficult times it will take a while. I think professor Vector might be a great help. But until we figure out everything, since this is just an incomplete theory, you are welcomed to stay with the Weasleys." Dumbledore finished but the discussion wasn't over yet.

"Dumbledore we're going at Grimaud place tomorrow…"

"I know Molly, and they're coming too. Now that this is over, do you want to tell me about your world and yourselves?"

The four shinobi looked at each other silently asking who was going to speak and what to say. Sakura took a deep breath and looked Dumbledore straight in the eyes. She was lost for a moment into his magnificent light blue orbs. They gave her the courage to speak.

"I will tell you about us. As you have noticed we have a different kind of power from you. We are Shinobi, or ninja if you prefer, we are like fighters for hire. People ask for our services and we give them in exchange for money. Those are our missions."

"And how do you fight?" Dumbledore asked in interest.

"I'm sorry but we can't give information like our fighting style to people outside our village. The techniques we use are sometimes an essential part of the mission, and must remain a secret. Every shinobi uses different techniques and fighting styles, and they form his tramp card. If an enemy knows your powers then he might be able to find a way to counter your attacks. Secrecy and stealth are of great importance to us." Sai finished and smiled at Dumbledore. Of course he showed his fake smile and earned a scowl from Sakura. She really hated that smile.

"I see. Well I cannot force you to tell me about your village's secrets. But I would like to know more about your world. If you could share with me whatever you feel is not of great importance I would like to hear."

They spent the two more hours talking. At first Sakura explained the way they use their chakra, a mixture of spirit and body energy, in order to fight; then she told them about the five shinobi countries and the villages. Of course she left the part of the tailed demons and the Akatsuki outside of the conversation.

When she finished Dumbledore talked about the wizard community. He explained that within some people was hidden a great power that they called magic. With magic and the help of wands they could perform spells. Apparently chakra and magic were different, like the night and the day. Magic was coming from within someone and stayed the same during his life. The only practice they needed was to practice the spells. Chakra on the other hand could evolve and could be manipulated, unlike magic.

He also told them about the none-wizard community, which was the muggles; he told them about the ministry οf magic, which was responsible of all the affairs involving the wizards in England, the country they lived in. He also told them about the school he runs, Hogwarts.

It was a good long conversation, both sides exchanging information for their worlds, but both sides hid information as well.

It was deep in the night when Mrs. Weasley sent everyone to bed, since they had to wake up relatively early in the morning. She set four home-made beds at the attic for the guests to sleep in.

The attic was covered by a rather thick layer of dust, and a cricking sound could be heard from the roof; Mrs. Weasley said it was nothing to worry about. When she left, the four friends took a bed. Sasuke took the bed closest to the window, next him was Sakura, next to Sakura was Sai, and Naruto was closest to the door.

They laid their bodies on the bed welcoming the comfort they provided. The room fell to a silence and a faint light eliminated the figures lying on the beds.

"They're hiding something. I can tell." Naruto said and sat on the bed looking wearily at the dark night sky outside the dusty window.

"Are you sure about it? I mean Dumbledore-san seemed very nice?" Sakura sat on her bed as well, looking at Naruto with interest.

"I've noticed that too. Naruto is right, but it wasn't exactly hiding, it was more like not mentioning and avoiding."

"I agree with Sai and Naruto. We don't know for sure and it would be a good move to find out. We have no idea about where we are and how this world is. We should be extra cautious. Tomorrow we should try and find out more."

"Ok, Sasuke-kun. Maybe we should befriend them and learn more."

"Alright, Sakura-chan! Goodnight everyone. Man I'm tired…" he lay on the bed again and immediately fell asleep.

"Goodnight Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura…"Sai said and leaned back on his bed, being consumed by sleep as well.

Now the only awake people in the room were Sasuke and Sakura. Sakura was still sitting on her bed and playing with the hem of her shirt nervously. Sasuke rose from his seat and sat down next her.

"What is wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing at all." She tried to assure him.

"I don't believe you… but don't be scared, we've been through worst, all of us. And we will find our way out of this. Don't worry. When we get back you might be able to ask that Hyuga out."

"What-what are you talking about? I never said I liked Neji." She protested and looked outside the window again.

"I wasn't talking about Neji, you did. Listen I can easily tell that you like him. Don't worry I won't tell anyone." He added after he saw the pleading look she gave him. He went back on his bed and lay down his body staring at the ceiling.

"Thank you Sasuke-kun. Goodnight."

Moments later he could hear the slow and steady breathing of his teammates. They were all asleep. He on the other hand couldn't sleep. After those years he spent apart from them he became insomniac. He turned around and looked at the starless sky. It was so calm that made him smile. The nights used to be hard when he was away from them. Now the nights weren't as hard but sometimes he could still see the nightmares, he could still feel the pain. But the feeling of them close always eased his heart; even though he couldn't sleep he could feel serenity taking over him. It was going to be a long night, but just like any other night it would pass.

It wasn't hard to wake up with all the commotion from the other rooms of the house. Sasuke was awake in an instant. His dark eyes fell on his teammates. Naruto was trying to block the sounds away, Sakura was yawning but was still lying on her bed, refusing to sit up and Sai was sitting on the bed looking skeptically outside the window. After a little while they heard Mrs. Weasley's voice calling for breakfast.

The fair-haired boy got up sleepily and dragged himself to the door. He opened it and was about to exit the room when he stopped on his tracks. He twisted his body so he could face his friends. A smile was placed on his handsome features; a reassuring smile, a happy smile. He used that smile a lot nowadays, when people needed strength he provided it to them with that special smile of his.

"I'm going down, are you following?"

"I'm coming…" replied Sasuke and followed the blonde out of the room. Soon Sakura followed them as well.

Sai was left alone in the room, his dark eyes fixed to the place Sasuke was seconds ago. The intimate conversion he heard last night between Sasuke and Sakura was still fresh in his memory. He never showed it but he still had his doubts about the raven haired boy. He couldn't trust him that easily, even though he wanted a part him couldn't. He sighed and walked down the stairs to the kitchen.

When he entered the kitchen he was amazed by the amount of different colors he saw. Brown and red dominated the room, but there could be seen sparks of vivid green, deep blue and other colors. There wasn't a harmony with decoration but somehow it looked homey. It was a very relaxing place, he thought.

The moment his eyes left his surroundings and fell on his teammates, he knew that there was something wrong with them; and especially Naruto and Sasuke. Sakura seemed fine but the other two didn't. He still lacked the knowledge about feelings so it was hard to tell.

Naruto was watching longingly at the family's routine. The mother was fixing breakfast with the help of her young daughter and one of her son's guests. The boys of the family were fixing the table and were doing small chores and errands for their mother. The father was drinking some tea or coffee, Naruto couldn't tell, and was reading his newspaper. They laughed with each other, joked and exchanged gestures that showed familiarity and affection.

He could only watch from afar how a family should be like, how it felt being in a family. He never knew how it felt, and he couldn't stop feeling envious at them. They looked so happy to be together that his craving for the same kind of happiness. Even though he gained many friends he stilled whished for a father and a mother.

Sasuke wasn't in a better mental state than Naruto. As he observed the daily ritual develop before his eyes, he felt the familiar pain within his chest. He remembered how it used to be like when he was part of a family, a long time ago. Like his friend he craved to feel that happiness again. He wanted his mother to cook for him, his brother next to him and his father seated at the end of the table reading. But that was only a far away dream, and he had stopped believing in dreams years ago when he was still young.

Sakura saw the depressed look on their faces and decided to do something about it. As she was seated between them she circled her arms around both of their necks and smiled warmheartedly at them. Soon Sai followed her lead and as he was sitting on the left of Naruto he smiled at him, just like he did at the cold lair when he showed a true smile for the first time in his life.

Naruto knew that they weren't alone. They could always count on them. His cheerful nature returned and he grinned happily at Mr. Weasley who was observing them with a both sad and kind expression on his face.

It wasn't long before the twins entered the room and approached Naruto smiling all the way. They sat next to Sai, who only watched them nonchalantly in return.

"Good morning Naruto! Sleep well?" Fred asked and leaned at the table sleepily.

"Yeah! Did you?"

"No! Mom woke us up to help her prepare a decent breakfast for you. And that woman can see right through you!" explained George in an over dramatic manner.

"What do you mean right through you?" Sai asked politely.

"We tried to fake sleep but she found out. And then hell was let loose." Fred finished with a sigh.

"Wow! She seems mean!" Naruto whined and looked at Mrs. Weasley's back.

"She seems like she could be useful on you…" the anbu trailed off.

Naruto was about to protest when the food was being placed on the table.

"Alright everyone! Dig in!" Mrs. Weasley called happily.

After the breakfast was over the shinobi were beginning to converse with the wizards.

"So how old are you?" asked Hermione with friendly interest.

"Well me and Sasuke-kun are seventeen to eighteen, Naruto is seventeen and Sai is about our age as well."

"I see, well me and Ron are fifteen, Ginny is fourteen and Fred and George are seventeen." The girls smiled at each other.

"Why do you say "Kun" after Sasuke's name?" Ron asked intrigued.

"It's an old habit. It's an honorific that show's intimacy, affection and familiarity." Her voice trailed off as she remembered the reason behind the honorific.

"Are you and Sasuke a couple? That's why you're saying his name with an affectionate title?"

"Ron don't be noisy and stay out of peoples' personal relationships, even though I'm impressed with your good use of the language." That was defiantly a sarcastic comment.

"It's alright Hermione. There's no harm done. And no Ron I'm not dating Sasuke, honestly." She smiled at them and failed to catch the nostalgic look the dark haired boy gave her.

"Well kids! Today we're going at the order, around noon so have your things packed until then!" Mr. Weasley said happily, even though behind his smile lingered a weary feeling.

"What about us?" Sasuke asked a little too demandingly.

"You're coming with of course!"

"Oh."

"So, what's the order?" Naruto asked impatiently.

"It's an organization called the order of the phoenix, and its purpose is to destroy He-who-must-not-be-named."

"Hermione, I'm lost and think all of us are." The puzzled expression on their faces was the proof of Naruto's statement.

"Sorry Naruto. Well let me tell you about the story of you-know-who. You-know-who is a powerful dark wizard who wants to achieve domination over the world of wizards and gain immortality. He was stopped fourteen years ago when a curse backfired and he got hit with it. But his fall was temporary because he came back a couple of weeks ago. The order is organized by Dumbledore himself in order to stop you-know-who." Hermione finished with a deep breath.

"And why do you call him you-know-who?"

"How did the curse backfire?"

Both Sasuke and Sakura were eager to ask questions. So the thing that Dumbledore skipped last night was that the wizard's world was in the beginning of war. No big deal!

"We don't say his name; because he caused so much fear in his days that his name still brings fear to people. Now for the curse, that's probably the most told story of our time. Well you see you-know-who was about to kill a friend of ours, Harry Potter, when he was only a one year old baby. But before he killed him, Harry's mother sacrificed her life for him and provided to Harry a spell that made the curse hit you-know-who instead of Harry. Everyone believed that you-know-who died that day, but apparently only his powers were diminished."

"That's a very sad story." Sakura's eyes were slightly watered. "So how did you-know-who come back?"

"We don't know, the only one that know the details are Dumbledore, Harry and you-know-who's followers." Ron spoke for the first time after a while.

"That's just stupid! Why are you afraid of telling a name! We have scary powerful bastards in our world too! But we say their names."

"Naruto, this is serious! Don't be so immature for once!"

"I'm not being immature Sakura-chan! I'm telling the truth! Their just cowards! We're saying the Akatsuki members' name all the time! Not to mention Orochimaru!"

"Don't be so ignorant all the time. You don't know…" Sakura was cut off by Sasuke's deep voice.

"Actually he's right. If you can't say he's name you will never be able to win against him. If you're so afraid of him all your efforts will be in vain."

An uncomfortable silence fell over the room. The wizards comprehended their words. Mr. Weasley watched silently from the end of the table.

"You are all so young that you don't understand some things. People have every right to be afraid of you-know-who. There was so much death during those days. Because of your profession both Dumbledore and I believe that you deal with death quite often, but it's not that easy for everyone. Imagine that an average man, who is coming home from work and enters his house only to find his whole family dead, tortured and in other gruesome situations. Many people lost their beloved ones on that war, and some of them are still dealing with loss. Some things are not as simple as you present them. What if you came home one day to find your family slaughtered?" his brown eyes shone with wisdom and tiredness at the same time.

Sasuke at first remained silent but then he got up hastily and stormed off the kitchen to the garden. His face was a mixture of anger, hatred and pain.

"What was that?" asked the twins in one voice.

"Sasuke-kun… he lost his family like Weasley-san said. His whole family was killed." Her voice was soft and whispering. The sadness was evident in her eyes. Naruto's were downcast as well. They've been through a lot of hardships because of that.

"I'm going to find him." Naruto declared while his face was being enlightened by the sunrays from the window. His lips were turned into a half smile and his eyes were gazing outside the open door towards the dark figure in the distance.

"How was his family killed?"

"I'll tell another time Hermione, not now." Sakura looked at Naruto and then at Sai. She urged the blonde to go and find Sasuke, while she told to Sai not to, and come and sit next to her.

When Naruto reached Sasuke, the dark haired young man was resting his back at a tree and had his eyes closed while his hands were clenched into fists.

"Go away Naruto." His voice was cold and intimidating.

"Hey there bastard!" he grinned happily and tried to cheer his friend up. His attempt had failed because Sasuke fell to the ground and sat there sulking.

"Weasley-san didn't say that to insult you. He didn't know of your… he was just trying to explain the situation, you know. He said it as an example. He's a good man. He probably lost some people close to him at the war. He looked a little miserable when he said that. Don't blame him. And you know…"

"Naruto…" his voice was menacing and treating, "you talk too much. Shut up and let me enjoy a quiet morning for once."

Naruto smiled at him and relaxed leaning against the tree as well. He closed his blue eyes and let the warm rays of the sun fall on his face. All of his worries were now forgotten as he smiled for everything and nothing at the same time. His smile got bigger as his mind was focused on Hinata, and then he frowned. He didn't know when he would see her again. But he would, his heart said so and he believed it.

Sasuke's eyes were opened as he watched the clear blue sky. He was locked underground for so long he had almost forgotten how it looked. The reminder of his family's death brought anger to his mind. Even though he was smiling again, he hadn't forgotten about his plan. He still needed to kill his brother and fulfill his goal. They couldn't linger for too long in this world. The Akatsuki was getting more powerful and they had to stop them. Suddenly he was struck with a thought that made his heart ease. If the Kyuubi wasn't there then Naruto couldn't be captured by the Akatsuki. That meant that his blonde friend was safe as long as they were in this world.

He wasn't sure what he felt at the moment. A part of him was content with Naruto being safe. If they were stuck in this world for the rest of their lives then his friend wouldn't die at the hands of that fearful organization. But that meant that he would never get the chance to kill Itachi. And that thought angered him more than normal. His inner conflict was going on for a while.

The moment Naruto left Sakura excused herself and went to the attic. Sai followed her silently. They entered the dusty room and Sakura plopped herself on the bed. Sai sat down opposite from her.

"So what do you think?" His voice a little quiet so no one could hear them talk.

"I don't know. Dumbledore failed to mention that they're in the middle of war. And why didn't he say anything? He must have known that we will find out. It doesn't seem to be a secret."

"I know. He probably had his reasons. Or he simply knew that we would find out sooner or later."

"Do you think he might want us to… you know, fight for him?" she sounded a little unsure.

"I don't know, but I hope not. We don't know how this wizards fight and we shouldn't exchange blows with them."

A sigh left from her lips as she folded her hands on her lap.

"Is there anything that bothers you?" He asked his voice softer than normal.

"No. it's just that what if?"

"Don't worry. There won't be a problem. We're shinobi, and we have found ourselves in much worse than this."

"I know Sai. I know."

They sat there is comfortable silence, enjoying the other's presence.

The moment all the foreigners left the kitchen Hermione asked Mr. Weasley.

"What do you mean they have killed before?"

Mr. sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. Then he noticed that the teens were all looking at him intently waiting for an explanation.

"You are all young so you probably haven't met people like them. Back in you-know-who's days, everyone could become a killer; and not because they were on his side but because people often found themselves in a "kill or be killed" situation." He paused for a moment, took a big breath and continued. "The aurors at the ministry are just like them. They have seen so many gruesome things that killing is not hard to them. Sometimes killing the enemy could be a sign of pity. That's why they're not afraid to say a name. They've seen horrible things that a name cannot frighten them."

All the teens were hanging from his lips.

"But they're so young." Ron said in a small voice. These kids were a few years older than him and were killers. How could something like this be? And there's more to it. Sakura and Naruto seemed so genuinely happy that he could never guess what they've been through.

Then Ron remembered his friend, who's been through a lot of hardships as well. And he could still smile. Maybe they weren't different from Harry. Sakura said that Sasuke's family was murdered but he wasn't smiling. He had a far off look on his face, and when Naruto went after him the worried look on his face wasn't just of concern, and Sai gave him a look that clearly meant to keep Sasuke in line. How dangerous could this people be?

"There are many people in this world that are more dangerous than some aurors of the ministry, and way younger than me. Anyway you should go and finish packing. We will spend the rest of the summer at the order."

"Can we tell Harry dad?"

"No Ron we talked about this. There is too much danger to say about the order in one of your letters. Now off you go! All of you!"

The last part was directed to the twins who seemed too bored to even lift a finger.

Sakura and Sai got down to the kitchen again and were shocked that the kitchen was empty except for Mr. Weasley who was reading the daily prophet again.

"Excuse me Weasley-san but were did everyone go?" She asked politely and smiled at the man. Sai was standing right behind her like he was protecting her from something.

"They went to pack their things. We're leaving after lunch."

"And we're going to that order right? What's it like? The order I mean." She asked with interest in her voice.

"It's just a house. You will see. Now if you'll excuse me a have a few letters to write." He then left the kitchen and left the two alone.

Sakura turned to Sai and fixed him a glare. He didn't know why she was glaring at him like that. People of the male sex were much easier to read and understand. Women on the other hand remained a mystery to him.

"Now what do we do? Should we go check on the other two?" So this is bugging her.

"No. leave them alone they need it." He was about to suggest taking a walk outside but stopped when two identical red heads plopped from the door.

"Are they all gone?" Fred asked scanning the room with his honey colored eyes.

"Yes. " Sai raised an eyebrow at the twins. It was obvious that they were planning something and it wasn't good.

To prove his theory they both grinned mischievously and looked at Sakura. He didn't like the look they gave her.

"Sakura since we were the ones that found you and all, would you like to do us a favor?" George asked, his eyes fixed on hers daring her to decline.

"Um… what do you want?" She had a bad feeling about this. Sai moved closer to her.

"Well we will tell you something but it's a secret ok? You mustn't tell anyone." Fred whispered while his brother watched the door for intruders. The two shinobi nodded their heads.

"We believe that Ron likes Hermione, and that she likes him too. So we thought that if you, Sakura hit on Ron, Hermione will get jealous. And if one of you guys hit on Hermione then Ron will get jealous. And then we will be laughing are asses off while those two will fight!" pride was in the twins face. George ended his speech in triumph while his brother was giving them an expecting look.

"Absolutely not." Sai answered for the both, his face stoic and free of emotions. But his voice was slightly edgier. Sakura couldn't agree less with him.

"You're the same as Naruto! Jeez! When he thought I liked Shikamaru he putted Kiba to hit on me and see the reactions."

"And she found out the plan and both Naruto and Kiba made a little visit at the hospital that night." Sai finished, remembering that night all too well. "Besides you will need a pretty girl to hit on Ron, and not the ugly hag over here."

"Sai!" she yelled and begun chasing him around the table until they exited the kitchen. Sai was running for his life and they both disappeared from the twins view.

All the noise had intrigued Naruto's and Sasuke's attention and they met with the twins asking what had happened.

"Your friend called Sakura ugly and she began chasing him. Is she always like that? I mean she seemed so sweet and cute. Now I'm scared for life." George was looking at the corner where they stood moments ago while Fred talked.

"Yeah, Sakura-chan can be scary at some times." And as the blonde finished Sakura returned smiling happily and mumbling an off-key melody to herself, while Sai was walking a few steps behind her holding his now swollen cheek.

"If you excuse me I'm going to go and lie down until lunch." She walked between the amazed boys and marched confidently towards the stairs.

The twins gulped. She had a terrifying resemblance to their mother.

"Don't worry you'll get used to it." Naruto patted the twins on their shoulders and grinned at them.

"Why don't we go and hang out until lunch." Sasuke suggested.

They all nodded and headed outside. They spent a couple of hours talking and joking, well more Naruto and the twins, but Sasuke would say a witty comment once in a while, Sai would continue with an insult and they would aggravate Naruto together. Apparently the red haired twins were very good at witty remarks and could match Sasuke and Sai. They were all laughing and having a good time when Sakura joined them.

She would just sit there quietly hearing the boys telling funny stories and joking, while she was looking skeptically at the horizon. The sky had a few clouds that had soft lavender, almost white color. The clouds or more specifically their color reminded her of Neji. She missed him already and wondered how he was. Her musings were stopped when Hermione called them for lunch.

The lunch was less quiet than breakfast. Naruto and the twins would tell jokes all the time while the others would laugh. Even Mrs. Weasley laughed, even though she tried to hide it sometimes, a smile would be seen on her aged face. It was nice to see everyone this happy. Strange it was, but she felt warmth inside her chest when she saw her children being genuinely happy. She felt content just watching them.

"Alright everyone. Bring your things down so we can leave for the order. Off you go!" She shouted trying to be heard over the noise.

A few grunts and complains later and everyone god up to fetch their things. Since the shinobi had very few things with them it took them less than ten minutes to go up, take their things and go back down.

"So Weasley-san how are we going to the order, how far is it?" Sakura asked Mrs. Weasley.

"Oh it's quite far dear." The shinobis frowned at her reply.

"Oh! Don't worry we will travel through floo powder."

"Through what?" Naruto asked, not liking the sound of floo powder.

"You will see." She replied happily and gave to Naruto a mother like smile.

The blonde young man appreciated.

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**Preview of chap4**: the four ninjas are going to Grimaud place, meet people from the order and Mrs. Weasley is determined to make the order presentable, which means that all the teens must clean!


	4. the black house

I'm sorry for the wait but I'm not going to list all my reasons here. I like this chapter a lot. The ending is great. I think. I hope I didn't make fatal grammar mistakes; I do my own beta thing so bare with me. Someone said that this fic isn't a Narusaku so I shouldn't post it there, but because they are the two main characters it doesn't mean that they should evolve romantically with each other. Well if any of you know the right category and character session please say so. Thank you for the reviews! I hope the wait was worth this chapter!

* * *

**The black house**

"What's this fl… fl…? Fu?"

"Floo powder."

"Thanks Sakura-chan! Floo powder. What the hell is this thing?" Naruto's blue eyes shone with interest and confusion. Travelling with a powder seemed unnatural to him and to his teammates.

"Naruto is right. How are we going to travel such a long distance with some powder?" Sasuke's voice held sarcasm and irony. It was more of a witty remark than an actual question.

The twins tried to hold their laughter. That brooding bastard was going to flip with what he was going to experience.

"Floo powder is a way for transportation, only used by wizards. It's very simple. You just have to take in your hand some of this grey powder, throw it into the fireplace and say loud and clear the destination you wish to go. Now that wasn't hard was it?" Mrs. Weasley's voice trailed off as she saw the weird faces of the four strangers.

Naruto and Sakura had a bewildered look, full of disbelief and confusion. Sasuke was looking at her like she had two or three heads; he wasn't going to believe something that went away from his logic. Sai had raised an eyebrow in question thinking how stupid her words were.

Mrs. Weasley sighed and paused for a moment to think. After a few moments she handed to each person a piece of paper.

"Children this is where we are going. Open the paper and read this address." She stopped talking when everyone opened the small paper and read the address. Grimmauld Place. "Bill, demonstrate for them how to use floo powder."

The tall man took a hand full of the grey substance and threw it in the fireplace. The flames took a shimmering emerald color, close to Sakura's eyes. Soon Bill stepped inside the fireplace and spoke in a voice, loud and clear, "Grimmauld Place number twelve." And disappeared from their view.

"I'm not going inside there!" Naruto declared and stood stubbornly next to Sai and Sasuke, who had the same expression as well. Even though Sakura didn't look so negative on the outside, inner Sakura wasn't willing to get inside that man-eating fireplace anytime soon.

She laughed nervously and eyed the fireplace as the flames were slowly turning to their original vivid red color. Mrs. Weasley noticed her discomfort and closed her eyes in deep thought. After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence she came up with a plan.

"Ok. So here's what we're going to do. You will all be paired with someone to guide you."

Fred and George smiled. And their smile was more like an evil plotting smirk than a smile. Fred stood by Sasuke and George by Sai. They were going to enjoy this. Hermione approached Naruto kindly and Sakura was paired with Ron.

"Alright. Fred you will go first with Sasuke, then George and Sai, then Hermione with Naruto and then Ron and Sakura. We will follow you then."

"Hold your breath and don't open your eyes no matter what. Oh and we will land upside so when I say so, just jump." Fred muttered to Sasuke in a hushed voice that only he, Sasuke, Sai and George could hear.

"You heard him. Same goes for you." George said in all seriousness to the artist.

The two fighters nodded their heads, even though they weren't so sure about it. Fred stepped ahead and motioned for Sasuke to grab his arm. The dark haired young man killed his pride and grabbed Fred's forearm. Fred took in his hand an amount of the grey floo powder and tossed it inside the fireplace. Seconds later they stepped inside the fireplace, side by side and Fred yelled "Grimmauld Place!"

All of a sudden the fires began to spiral around the duo and wrapped them in a green light. This continued for a while until Fred yelled "Jump!" to Sasuke, and the boy jumped the moment he heard Fred's muffled voice.

Sasuke's head collided with the stony roof of a grey fireplace. Because he was a shinobi he sent chakra to his feet trying to jump as a best as he could so he hit the roof with a very intense force. Unfortunately he lost his consciousness and fell with a thump on the dirty floor.

Bill saw the unconscious Asian man and glared at his younger brother, who smiled innocently in return. Together they dragged him out of the fireplace and placed him at a chair.

Soon another thump was heard and they turned to see a grinning George, with an unconscious Sai at his feet, waving at them for help. They placed Sai next to Sasuke and slashed them, literally with water.

The two gained consciousness but their heads felt like they have just suffered another hit from Sakura. They groaned and glared at the twins. They were so much like Naruto. As if one stupid prankster wasn't enough, now they were multiplying.

Now in front of the fireplace stood a bewildered, and slightly dizzy, Sakura with an equally stunned, for different reasons, Ron. They looked at the two dark haired young men holding the top of their heads with a face full of pain and embarrassment and trying to glare at the twins. They failed miserably.

Sakura opened her mouth to ask what the hell happened to them but she was cut off when someone collided with her back. Apparently standing before the fireplace when other people were about to arrive was a bad idea. Naruto's heavier body was on top of her own and next to them was a mixture of limps that belonged to Hermione and Ron.

This was like Christmas for the twins because they were laughing so hard they couldn't breathe properly. They were laughing with other peoples' misery. They should be ashamed of themselves. In just about ten seconds…

"How could you do this? You are making fun of people in pain! You should be ashamed of yourselves!" Mrs. Weasley's face was so red with anger that her hair seemed dull.

"Sasuke-kun! Sai!" Sakura cried in a worried voice and rushed to their side. "What happened to you?" as soon as she spoke she begun checking their heads for injuries. Fortunately there was nothing fatal, but they would experience an awful headache for the next few hours.

The two boys just growled in frustration but chose not to talk. Their hurt pride was in more pain than the top of their heads. The twins had stopped laughing but the huge grin on their faces was noticed instantly by a very amused Naruto.

Said fox approached the twins smiling in approval. They were worthy of the title of the prankster. He went by their side and muttered a "good job" silently, that thankfully went unnoticed by Sakura.

"What on earth happened? It wasn't that hard! A little dizzy but other than that…" Sakura's voice was full with worry. She then smiled reassuringly at them. Silence came from the duo at the chairs.

"I'll give you something for the headache later… anyway since you're all here we should settle down first." Mrs. Weasley spoke with finality on her words. She wasn't implying that they "should" settle down, she was ordering them. "Alright everyone! Follow me!" she yelled happily.

She exited the dirty kitchen with an army of teens at her tail. Even though the kitchen was filthy and had an unwelcomed feeling that they all thought would vanish in the rest of the house they were proven wrong. The hallway was poorly lighted and the house had a dark and gothic sense. The absence of vivid colors was evident and gave a dreadful aura.

Sasuke's eyes caught the decorative stone snakes around him. He could feel their dead eyes over him. This was like a nightmare. A very familiar nightmare. Even though there wasn't the awful scent of dead and rotting snakes, like at Orochimaru's hideout, he was disgusted by the grey statues. He just wanted to get away from them, but as they walked further into the house more snakes appeared.

"What the hell are those?" someone asked horrified.

"They are house elves, Naruto. Or used to be before they died." Mrs. Weasley added while looking a little disgusted at the bodiless heads standing in a row at a dusty wooden shelf.

"That's awful!" Hermione squealed and turned her head away from the unpleasant sight.

"Why, you…! Don't insult my ancestors!" a squeaky and pitchy voice was heard from somewhere in the darkness.

"Kreacher. Don't talk to your master's guests like that." Mrs. Weasley called to the direction of the voice.

"You have no right to talk to me like that you stupid…" the tiny ugly creature stepped away from the shadows but had no time to finish his insults when a deep baritone male voice cut him off suddenly.

"Shut up Kreacher! And go back where no one can see you!" Sirius commanded to the house elf. The elf then left muttering colorful curses under his breath. "Oh. Molly! I thought that you didn't have so many children!" Sirius said jokingly to the breathless woman.

"You know better than me that not all of them are mine." She corrected him with a piercing gaze. "And light some lights! For Merlin's sake!" she finished angrily.

Sirius whispered something and with a flick of his wand pale candles were set alight and illuminated the hallways with a soft glow. The rooms didn't look so intimidating anymore but the house definitely lacked the cheerful atmosphere that dwelled upon the Barrow. The lights also made clear for view Sirius' face. It was thin and had wrinkles from hardships. He had a strong jaw line and high cheekbones; Black intimating eyes and thin lips. His hair was also black, but a few grey hairs appeared occasionally. He had an arrogant and cocky smirk that made him look handsome and in a twisted way charming.

Sakura looked at his face in a daze. Sai noticed this and accidentally bumped into her. She awoke from her trance and shook her head to clear all images. He could be her father! Not to mention that no matter how handsome he looked, he wasn't a certain pearly eyed prodigy.

"Hey! Who are you?" Naruto asked, not caring if he seemed impolite.

"My name is Sirius Black… and this is my house." He said in amusement.

"God, Naruto! Be grateful! Um… sorry for Naruto, I'm Sakura." She said in a sweet voice and smiled at the now very amused man before her.

"Sai."

"Sasuke."

The two boys' just said their names and nothing more. Sirius looked at the dark haired young men that reminded him a lot of a man with a pointy nose and hideous hair. "Well I'll see you later. If you excuse me." He walked past them and lifted his hand in a salute motion.

Mrs. Weasley cleared her throat gaining everyone's' attention. The teens where still gazing at Sirius' retreating back while Mrs. Weasley spoke. "The rooms have two beds each. Fred, George, you will be sharing a room. Ginny and Hermione will be in the room across from yours. Ron you will be alone, until Harry comes. As for you." She said and looked at the shinobi. "You are three boys and a girl…"

"We're all sleeping in the same room." Sasuke's words were filled with finality. He wouldn't take no for an answer.

"But…" Mrs. Weasley begun to protest but a soft voice made her stop.

"Sasuke-kun is right. We prefer to stick together. Especially now, that we don't know where we are. Please Weasley-san." Her voice was soft and mellow, unlike Sasuke's harsh one, and convinced her immediately.

"Alright then, you will take Sirius' parents room. It's quite roomy."

The rest of the way, until they reached their rooms was spent in silence. The sounds of the cracking woods underneath their feet seemed quite macabre and were a reminder of those haunted castles of the north. Mrs. Weasley pointed with her wand some dark brown doors and thin golden letters appeared on them.

The first door said "Fred and George" the second said "Ginny and Hermione" and on the last door there were the words "Ron and Harry". "Your room is at the third floor. Follow me." She said at the shinobi.

Another set of stares later and they were standing in front of a more luxurious door with two delicate carved snakes on it. The snakes were wrapped around each other in a twisted gothic version of lovers. They looked like they were in love but one of the snakes' teeth were buried deep within the other one's neck. Sasuke turned his head away. What a disturbing sight it was. So close to the reality he once lived in.

Mrs. Weasley opened the door to reveal a dirty room, covered with dust and filth. The room had nice wooden furniture and was quite spacious. In the middle of the room there was a twin bed. From the brassy chandelier hanging from the ceiling cobwebs had the glassy object covered. The room was dark and the dominant colors were black, silver and green except for the occasional grey. The room had an unpleasant aura and the air was thick, probably because it hadn't been used for years. Mrs. Weasley flicked her wand and opened the shutters and the windows. The room was instantly filled with light and the air was being recycled.

The sun light showed details that were covered from the darkness seconds ago. On the wall upon the bed was an old oil painting that featured Adam, Eve and the famous snake from the religious myth. The forms on the painting where moving, Eve was giggling stupidly as she was giving an apple to Adam, who looked like a blushing school boy in return; but the most dominant figure on the painting was the snake's. It was wrapped around the first woman and the first man in an erotic sinful way, mocking them and enjoying their upcoming fall from Eden.

"Since there is a twin bed we will add two more beds, so you can stay inside here. Just leave your things somewhere around here and come back down to the kitchen. The room will be ready until nightfall." She said and left the room in a hurried pace.

Sakura scanned the room searching for a clean place, to place her belongings. She pulled a chair from the desk and dusted off with a cloth she found tossed on it. When she was happy with the result, she left her bag on the chair.

"How are we supposed to sleep inside this dump!" she yelled in frustration.

"Forget that. How are we going to sleep? I mean which two will take the bed?" Sasuke asked and looked at Sakura hopefully.

"The only person I'm going to sleep with is Sakura-chan! Hey Sakura-chan let's share the bed!" Naruto said happily.

"No." three voices said in perfect unison. Naruto just grumbled something under his breath and let his backpack to fall on the dirty floor.

"The answer to our problem is easy. Sakura and I will sleep on the twin bed." Sai said in his monotonous tone.

"And why is that?" Sasuke asked aggravated.

"It's simple actually. The three of us are males and it would be awkward if two boys would share the bed. Naruto is out of the question…"

"But why?"

"Honestly you want an answer? Maybe I should sleep with Sakura." Sasuke said in a steady voice. He failed to notice the continually raising red color of Sakura's cheeks. Who was going to sleep with her? That sounded awfully perverted.

"No Sasuke. Everyone knows you have sleep disorders so it would be best if you slept alone. We already ruled the dickless wonder out and we know that I'm not interested in Sakura in any way." He finished his little speech and no one protested. It was the most logic solution.

Of course something that Sai said intrigued Sakura's curiosity.

"What do you mean you're not interested in me in any way? I'm a perfectly fine girl" she exclaimed happily.

"I beg to defer. Ino is better than you. I mean she has better curves and her che… ouch!" he was cut off by a smack in the head, which was more painful since his head was still hurting from the little mishap in the fireplace.

Sakura stormed off the room angrily with an amused Naruto in tow. Sasuke and Sai looked at each other in mutual understatement and followed the duo downstairs.

Once they entered the kitchen they saw that everyone was already there. Their presence was still unnoticed. Mrs. Weasley was pestering Sirius about something and the dark man was just standing there, bored off his mind and probably wasn't paying any attention. Mr. Weasley was talking with two men that the nins have never seen before.

The first man was quite tall, but was sulking like he was ill. He had some nasty scars across his face that made his kind features look sad and pitiful. He was smiling a kind smile and even though he was wearing old and weary clothes and looked like a street rat, he seemed like a very nice person. The second man on the other hand seemed way different than the other one. The only thing in common between them was the face scars. But the older looking man had a missing piece from his nose, and had two mismatched eyes. He looked intimidating and had the aura of man that have seen and done terrible deeds. He was also standing awkwardly like he had some problem with his legs.

"Hey guys!" Fred exclaimed happily and gained all attention towards him. Then everyone looked at the shinobi. The odd looking man stepped closer to them and begun inspecting them from a close distance.

At first he looked at Sakura, who wrinkled her nose and turned her eyes away from the man's piercing gaze. Sai remained unaffected like this was nothing more than a daily routine. Sasuke glared back and was surprised that this man wasn't affected by his glare. And last but not least was Naruto. Moody watched in amusement at Naruto's face, which turned from a happily grinning one, to a face covered by detest and horror. But what came next was the most shocking moment in Moody's long and adventurous life.

"Your breath stinks." A simple phrase, which made Moody, look in disbelief at the young man. Then he cracked up and laughed loudly. He patted Naruto on the back goodheartedly.

"By Merlin's beard! This is the first time someone said something like that to me. I like you kid! You must be Naruto, and the girl must be Sakura. The other two are…. Hm… the one with long hair is Sasuke and the other one is Sai." He said blatantly. "I'm Alastor Moody, an auror from the ministry. You can call me Moody." He finished in his deep mighty voice.

"And I'm Remus Lupin." Lupin stepped in and introduced himself as he shook hands with each one of the shinobi. "Nice to meet you all."

"Blimey! Dumbledore wasn't wrong! You are very young!" Moody said in both amusement and disbelief.

"Very young indeed…" Remus said quietly to Sirius, who was standing right behind him.

"Wow!" exclaimed George in amazement.

"This is the first time someone talks to Mad-eye like that!" continued Fred.

"Mad-eye?" Sai murmured, even though it was obvious from where the nickname came from.

"Hermione-san. Remus-san looks a little sick, is he alright?" Sakura asked politely.

"Oh, there's nothing wrong with him… his body is just a little weak. Nothing to worry about." Sakura noticed that Hermione seemed a little nervous.

"Hey! Doesn't This Moody guy looks like Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked with a proud look on his face.

"Seriously Naruto, stop talking." Sasuke said in an annoyed tone.

"But look! He has two different eyes!" that caught definitely Moody's attention instantly.

"Who is this person that I'm supposed to look alike?"

"He is a famous ninja. A true legend. Very strong and a true genius. He has also mastered over one thousand techniques." Sai talked in his empty voice like he had mesmerized the words from a book.

"He's not that good! He is always late. And I mean really late! He is always reading those perverted books, he's reading them everywhere! Ha! The great copy-nin my ass! He's just a perverted old man!" Naruto's description of said nin destroyed his image in this world forever.

"Well to be fair, Kakashi-sensei is pretty cool…" Sakura was trying to defend her teacher's reputation.

"When he wants to." The cold reply came from none other than Sasuke.

"Well, now that we all met I have to tell you kids something." Mrs. Weasley said with a glint in her eyes.

"Oh no!" Fred whispered to his brother and Naruto.

"What?" the oblivious one asked somewhat scared.

"Those look in her eyes. Care to explain Fred?"

"She's up to something. Something not good." The redhead had an awful feeling about this.

"From tomorrow me and you, and when I say you I mean, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred, George, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and Sai, we will all begin cleaning the house and make it presentable." Mrs. Weasley said and proved the twins' dreadful theory. Their summer dreams crumbled like a card tower. "Am I clear?" she asked and the sound of her voice held a tiny threat inside it.

No one said no. No one refused. No one dared to oppose her. She was really scary. Thank god she had never met Tsunade. She called for her husband, Sirius and Moody to follow her upstairs, probably to fix the rooms so they could sleep in later that night.

Lupin looked at the young faces in front of him. Faces both familiar and new. He sighed and looked at the small dancing flames. He was thinking about the lone son of his dead best friend. How was he holding on? Was he ok? His heart told him that he was.

The hours rolled easily and the time to go to bed had arrived. They all departed for their bedrooms quietly. The dark aura of the house was affecting them all.

As the four friends entered their room they were amazed but how different it looked now. It wasn't the best room, since the furniture was old, and the slow decay of time had reached them, but still the difference was evident.

Sakura fell with her back on the comfortable bed and made an approving sound. She rolled to her side and fell asleep instantly, a light snoring, well not so light, was escaping from her lips. Sai looked at her in question. How was he supposed to sleep with that next to him? But once he got on the bed he could almost hear a lulling soft sound sending him to deep sleep. Even Sasuke was able to sleep well that night.

A loud banging sound made them all to jump right away. Someone probably wanted to wake them up. It was probably Mrs. Weasley since her loud voice was more than just audible through the wooden door. With grumbles of annoyance one by one they exited the room and got to the kitchen.

Naruto plopped down on a chair next to a half sleeping Ron. Soon Naruto followed his lead and they were leaning against each other slumbering. Sasuke sat next to Naruto, watching with disgust the short house elf walking out of the round room.

"Ron, when did you change interests? I thought you were into girls…" Fred said as he popped out of nowhere with a pop scaring both Naruto and Ron to death.

Fred's little comment earned him a smack in the head from his beloved mother.

"What was that for?" her silence was also her reply.

"Eat! In twenty minutes I want you all in the library!"

"Someone woke up at the bad side of the bed." George whispered to Sakura's ear and she giggled sweetly.

Less than twenty minutes later Mrs. Wesley burst into the kitchen cutting the morning silence. From the sudden noise Ron almost choke on his breakfast and the twins almost got a heart attack.

"All of you! Come with me! We will begin with the library!" she yelled throatily leaving no room for objections. She waited by the door for the sleepy teens to get up from the table. As soon as they were ready they all followed her half-heartily through hallways and doors until they reached a pair of dark twin sliding doors.

Mrs. Weasley pushed the doors open and revealed a room covered with books on the three walls around it. In the middle there was a single desk with a chair, probably for reading. The room was so dirty and covered in dust that the ebony wood seemed grey.

"We will only clean the dust from this room and we will not throw away anything. Some of these books are very old and are of great value. Take one of these dusting cloths and begin. Oh! And one more thing. Some of these books have a lot of magic within them so do not open them! Am I clear?" she asked and heard a continuous sound of "yes". She left the room to do more errands.

"She is mental!" George said as he eyed the room. Fred, Ron, Naruto and Sakura agreed with the wise redhead.

"Well the sooner we get to work the sooner we finish." Hermione said and got immediately to work. Ginny and Sakura followed her.

Soon they all had a cloth in their hands and were dusting off something. Fred and George would tease them all, and were more concentrated in making everybody's work harder than actually working. Naruto had found a book called "The tales of the heroic knight" and was so engrossed in the story that had actually sat on the chair and was reading intensely, the cloth lay next to him on the floor forgotten.

After a few hours Mrs. Weasley came to check on the progress and brought snacks for everyone. Surprisingly Naruto didn't even lift his head. A few more hours later Sirius, accompanied by Lupin, came through the door and told them that they could stop for today and that they could come to the kitchen were the dinner was ready.

"And what shall we dine, my lord?" a voice asked with interest. Of course everyone was looking at Naruto with eyes wide and full of shock.

"Have I said something to upset you my noble friends?" his voice echoed. No one talked. They just stared. Until Fred and George cracked up.

"What the hell?" Sakura asked confused.

"My fair maiden, something is troubling your mind. Why is your beautiful face covered with darkness?"

"And we thought that some reading would do him good…" Sai trailed off.

"Come on, stupid." Sasuke pushed a very confused Naruto through the door.

"Ah! What an amazing aroma! My weary body will soon be filled with the delicious food that this lovely lady had provided me! I am forever grateful my lady!" Naruto bowed before a very confused Mrs. Weasley. She only looked around to see almost everyone laughing hysterically. Hermione caught her look and showed her the book Naruto was previously reading.

She took the book and examined closely. "As I thought. This book is enchanted. Well the effects will probably wear off until sometime tomorrow." She said to the blonde who was now asking for a duel between him and Sasuke.

"You have no valor! You hypocritical foul dog!"

The night was passed full of laughter and joke. The twins had found Naruto's accident so amusing that they begun talking with an old heavy British accent of the medieval times too. The two of them and an oblivious Naruto, had a whole conversation in that weird speech. The others found it quite entertaining, especially Sai and Sasuke who pushed Naruto's buttons as further as they could go.

"Fair thee well, my lords. May your night will be filled with dreams of beauty and clarity. I wish you all a peaceful night." He said as they departed for their room in order to go to sleep.

The next days were spent in cleaning the old house. After the book incident Mrs. Weasley decided that the library was too dangerous and placed a very irritated Sirius to do the tusk. So they began cleaning the attic, where as soon as it was cleaned it became the room for Buckbeak. After all that work only three people haven't lost their spirit.

Those three were the twins and Naruto. They always found a way to play pranks to others. But they never played pranks on each other. It was like mutual understanding. Sometimes the three of them would be locked inside the twins' room and loud noises could be heard. Other times they would talk in hushed voices among each other. Sakura had a bad feeling about this but chose to ignore it. Messing with those three was something best avoided.

They met more order members. There was this strange woman that could change her appearance at will. When she entered the house she accidentally hit her foot on a table so hard she began sobbing. But that day her hair was a soft shade of pink and it reached her shoulders. As she was on the floor crying Sasuke, that had just entered the room saw the pink haired woman as she clutched her foot and rushed to her side.

Tonks had no idea of who this boy was, that had suddenly flipped her and threw a very well aimed curse at him. Of course Sasuke was too stunned to avoid the spell and ended up with his skin turned green and burned. Sakura for some reason couldn't help him at all. Only when Mrs. Weasley gave him a potion to drink, the color begun to fade. Of course three people weren't going to let him forget about it any time soon.

The days rolled and tonight Mrs. Weasley had informed them that a new guest would arrive for the night. His name was Severus Snape. When Mrs. Weasley said his name a chuckle of irony came from Sirius' lips.

Later that night the shinobi met a very grumpy man. He was tall and lean, with black greasy hair, black cold eyes and even his robes were black. From the moment they met him, Naruto didn't like him. Snape just stood there and watched them with a very sarcastic look.

The black haired man then walked past them into the kitchen and left a few documents on the table. He then looked at them and asked Moody if they were strong.

"I don't know. Dumbledore says they are, so I believe him." He replied while casting his eyes upon Naruto who was intently listening to the conversation.

"They look like weaklings. That blonde over there doesn't look smart either." Snape's cold voice was like a bell at the boy's ears.

Naruto just marched right in front of Snape and lifted his finger in order to poke him on his chest. The slightly shorter boy looked up at Snape and gave him his death glare.

"You have no idea how strong we are old man!" he hated being called weak by strangers.

Snape just snickered and smirked at the blonde boy. Then he lifted his wand and pointed at the middle of Naruto's forehead, where the Konoha symbol was. Then the world turned black for the two of them. Images surrounded them. A five year old Naruto was being sent away from some villagers. A twelve year old boy was happily wearing the hitai-ate of Konoha. He was thirteen years old, and he was fighting against the raven haired boy he met earlier. They were fighting with passion a battle where only one would survive. The image changed and Naruto's age was closer to the one he is now. He was running through a forest and his features had changed. His whiskers were much more visible and his eyes had turned a deep red. Then Snape, with the help of occlumency, penetrated deeper into Naruto's head.

All of a sudden Snape was seeing a menacing giant creature before him. The creature wasn't clear for view, but it was standing behind tall cage bars and his eyes were shining with cruelty. Then creature left an evil laugh as it watched Snape closely.

He didn't stay there to find out more. He stepped back from the shocked Naruto and looked at the boy in front of him with fear carved onto his face. Cold sweat was sliding down his forehead and his pupils were dilated.

"What the hell are you? What are you hiding from us?" he asked bewildered. He didn't receive an answer. The boy just stood in front of him with even more fear overwhelming him.

After a long pause he just spoke in a whispering voice.

"You saw… him?" he asked and his blue eyes were still fixed upon Snape.

"What are you two talking about?" Moody interrupted them.

"I need to see Dumbledore. Now! Mad-eye come with me!" Snape yelled and disapparated from the room in a hurry.

Naruto didn't stay there for long. He rushed through the stairs until he reached the attic. He could hear the voices from the others downstairs and closed the door trying to find solitude. He reached a window and opened it, trying not to make a sound. He let the soft summer breeze to caress his face. His features softened. He then had an idea.

He stepped out of the window and sat there on the windowsill, his feet were hanging on the wall and he rested his form on the side. There he stood, invisible to this world, a young lonely stray child. He was so young, yet he felt like he was an old weary man. His features softened as another small wind blew and with it, it took the boy's troubles away. Naruto closed his eyes trying to forget and opened them again to look at the starless blackish blue sky.

Then his eyes caught a small light falling from the sky. And it seemed to him like the world had stopped from moving. He gazed at the falling star from the edge of the window. To him it was like he was watching a falling star at the edge of the world.

* * *

**Preview of chapter five:**

She slammed her hands on her desk, which creaked under the added weight.

"Where are they?" she yelled angrily. Behind her mask of anger and irritation there was concern and maybe fear.

The black haired teen looked from his hiding place the dark streets below. He hated this prison. If only something exiting would happen to him.


	5. The mission the team and the boy

I updated! Finally! This chapter was a real bitch! I had written more than half but it was awful so I wrote it back from the start. And the worst part was the editing. That took me the most time. Anyway! This is what I call a fuckin plot twist! Read and review, please!

**The mission the team and the boy who lived**

It was early in the morning or really late at night, she wasn't sure. The sun hadn't fully risen yet, and she was sitting at her desk gazing at the stony figures from outside her window. The orange glow of the sun illuminated the carved faces almost bringing them back to life. Her blonde hair, uncombed and messy, where framing her face and her eyes were filled with tiredness and uneasiness.

She stayed there for the longest of times waiting for the rest of the world to wake up from its sleep. When it did, a woman came inside the chamber with a stack of papers on her arms. The two of them looked at each, as if they were exchanging silent words.

The blonde woman looked at the dark haired one meaningfully. Seconds later the other woman had already left the door in order to do what she was asked. Tsunade was left alone again to wait for the arrival of Kakashi. This awful feeling was ever present in her chest since the team left. And as days passed and they were late, the feeling got even worst. She had lost track of time and when a man with grey hair entered the room; she could not tell if it was only a couple of minutes or a whole hour. But that wasn't important.

"Kakashi…" she said his name in the authority her voice possessed earning his full attention.

"You asked to see me Hokage-sama?" he asked, but they both new of the real reason for his summoning.

"Yes. Yes I did. And you know very well why I did that." Said Tsunade as her eyes left the form of the man and fell upon the monumental faces once more.

Kakashi sighed and leaned his frame against the wall, waiting for the village's leader next words.

"Let's get directly to the point. Any more words are useless. I called you here because of them. It's been two weeks already. They should be here long ago. Do you have anything to say Kakashi?" she dared him to answer. His façade never changed once, but his heart was beating faster than normal and Tsunade knew it.

"I have nothing to say, Hokage-sama." The woman got aggravated as he was speaking like he had no idea of what was going on.

"Kakashi. Don't play dumb on me. Why are they delayed from their mission? I know that you have to do with it." Her voice was higher than before and more menacing as well.

"Again, I do not know of what is going on." They both knew he was lying through his teeth.

"I will say this one more time. What is going on?" she said and emphasized each word separately.

"I told you, Hokage-sama, I do not…"

She slammed her hands on her desk, which creaked under the added weight.

"Where are they?" she yelled angrily. Behind her mask of anger and irritation there was concern and maybe fear. Kakashi never had the chance to finish his sentence. He still had the bored façade on his face, but the time had come for the truth to be told.

He sighed and looked outside the window to the cloudy sky. He had to tell her what had probably happened eventually. But for the moment he pretended to be as clueless as her.

"Kakashi," the woman spoke with mastered calmness, "I know that the only person who can help me and them is you. You suggested they should take this mission. You suggested the path they should follow. I knew you had a plan or something but now that they are gone missing I want you tell me exactly what you know." Her voice was dry and tired, and she was close to losing her temper again. Still no reply came from the copy-nin.

"Maybe you should send a searching team." He finally said after a long pause.

"Don't change the subject! Gaara is here looking for Naruto. And we don't want him to get angry. Now do we?"

"Of course not, Hokage-sama." He answered back. "…You should send Nara Shikamaru. He's very smart and he will probably figure everything out. You should put a Hyuuga on the team too. Hinata would be a good choice but her feelings might get in the way. And if there is a fight then Neji is essential. Gaara will come whether you like it or not. And the last person should be Inuzuka Kiba. With his tracking skills he will be very important to the mission. How does that sound?" he finished with a breath.

He noticed that the Hokage was considering his suggestion and had forgotten about her first questions. After a long pregnant moment she sighed in defeat.

"Alright Kakashi. I will send a team consisting of those four. If Gaara won't accept I will send Yamato, though it is unlikely for him to say no. Kakashi we both know there is more underneath it all. If anything happens I will personally put you to a very, very torturous death." Her message was very, very clear. Kakashi coughed uncertainly.

He exited the room from the window and walked with his usual slouched and slow pace, as if he did not care for anything in the world. He reached his destination shortly after. The ever familiar memorial stone stood before him, a reminder of his past, of his broken bonds of friendship, of his past dreams.

He would have understood why he did it. He would have never blamed him for misleading his pupils towards an uncertain path. Sure it has been many years since he read about the tricky cave that sent people far away into different new worlds, but the cave should be there, unaffected by the outer world. Was it a smart move? Was a stupid move? Only time would tell. But desperate times demand desperate moves. And he knew that the ending conclusion would justify his means. He led them to a different kind of safety the others would provide.

He was sure that they reached the cave and that they were sent to a world completely different than his own. The Akatsuki hadn't taken Naruto. Jiraiya would have known if that had happened. It pained him that he might never see his dysfunctional team again, but such was the price to pay. The safety of young people with the broken heart of an old man, it seemed like a fair trade to him.

He was brought back to the present when an empty voice broke him out of his thoughts. "Hatake-san, you are requested to the presence of the Hokage right now." The unknown shinobi said and left.

Kakashi took his time and arrived at the room way later as it was just another insignificant moment in his life.

"About time you came." The ever sweet blonde Hokage said to the copy-nin. "And don't say any excuses." She finished before he had time to speak. "Anyway, now that our special guest has arrived, let's begin. I summoned you all here, and requested your presence as well Kazekage-sama, to tell you about my decision considering the missing of four shinobi of our village." She took a moment to compose herself before she could continue with her speech.

"Two weeks ago Sakura, Naruto, Sai and Sasuke left the village to do a mission that Kakashi had suggested. It's been a long time since then, and I decided to send a team to look for them. Shikamaru, you will be the team leader. Neji and Kiba, you will be in the team as well."

"Troublesome…" the lazy genius said. He already had a weary feeling for the whole situation.

"Excuse me, Hokage-sama. May I interrupt you?" Gaara said in a serious tone to Tsunade. Both she and Kakashi smirked.

"Go on." She said to the redhead.

"I wish to go on this mission as well. Naruto and Sakura-san came to my assistance when I was abducted by the Akatsuki. I want to help them in their time of need." He finished and looked at Tsunade with his icy azure eyes.

"Okay." She said a little too quickly and everyone, minus Kakashi looked at her weirdly.

"Anyway you will leave tomorrow morning. Be ready! Now get out of here! I need a drink." She added under her breath. And then the room was empty and Tsunade had all night to drink herself to unconsciousness, which she gladly did after all.

The morning came and the four man team was ready at the gates to depart. They were not alone, despite the early hour. Ino was there looking at them grimly and was waiting for a moment to speak alone to Shikamaru.

"Shikamaru, please find them, and when you do, say hello to Sai for me." She finally said and looked at him dead in the eye.

"Troublesome woman. I will." He smiled lazily and nodded his head. He was happy to see her smiling with relief and faith on him.

"You know that I will kill you if you don't!" she said and she was her usual cheerful self once more. But they both knew that she also told him to come back safe in her own personal way.

A few meters away Hinata was mumbling to her cousin. "Please, find him and bring him back safe." She pleaded with her eyes big and shiny with unshed tears.

"Of course Hinata-sama." He just told her, never once trying to comfort her with foolish nothings. They both knew he wasn't capable of doing it.

"Good luck Kiba-kun! Come back safe." she told to her long time friend and teammate.

"Yeah! Don't worry, we will bring that stupid's ass back here safe and sound!" he grinned at her and her heart felt lighter as he was holding her like an older brother.

Shikamaru called for his team to gather next to him. He had already figured out a plan.

"Listen. I have formed a plan last night. There is one way to go to the town where the mission was held. We will go all together and search for clues. The tricky part on the other hand is in the way back. There are two routes that lead back to Konoha, apart from the one we will take to go there. One is easily accessed and is close to the path leading to the town. The second route can be found from the town and is definitely not easy to be entered. There we will split up." He stopped for a minute to yawn, and gained different reactions from his comrades.

"And what the two teams will be?" Gaara asked unfazed by the continuous yawning of the other man.

"One team will be you and Kiba. You are a very good fighter and Kiba is an excellent tracker. I will be with Neji who is a way better fighter than me and has the byakugan to see what my eyes can't. You will take the most known route since it's more likely that they have taken that one, and we will take the other one. Is everyone alright with this plan?" he finally asked and the three of them nodded their heads in understatement.

"Ok then let's go." He announced and exited the gates with his team beside him.

It took them a couple of days to reach the small town and they decided to spend the night here and to begin their mission again in the morning. They had found clues that Naruto's team had taken the same road to this town and after describing them to a few townspeople the found out that they had reach the town where the arm of bandits rested a few miles outside the northern part of it. From what they have heard they had completed the mission as well.

Shikamaru had figured out all of this and he knew that tomorrow the real mission would begin for him and Neji.

"Man I'm dead!" Kiba whined to his teammates.

"Let's get rooms. I think it would be best for me and Shikamaru to share one room and for Kiba and Gaara-san to share another, so we could discuss our movements." Neji said and everyone agreed. Neji also wanted to ask his lazy team leader in private, about something that was nagging him since they left for this mission.

They took rooms at a hotel and settled in, and the moment everything was in check Neji asked Shikamaru while looking at him dead in the eye something that he was thinking for the past days.

"Why did you wanted us to take the hardest route?" he asked and Shikamaru sighed knowing very well that the time for answers had come.

"There are three routes in and out of this town right?" he asked and saw Neji nodding his head before he could continue.

"The one we just came from is the shortest way from Konoha and we are a hundredth percent sure that it is the one they chose to come here. But there are two others leading back to Konoha. One who is quite long, but easy to walk through and would be the best choice after returning from the mission. The other one on the other hand is hard and through the woods and they were probably forced to take that one since it is closer to the bandit's hideout." He finished and looked at Neji who had his eyes fixed on the map before them.

"There is more to it. Isn't it?" he finally asked the lazy man.

"Yes. There are more. There is cave through the second route that is supposed to have something strange about it. I heard my dad talk about it a few years ago and there has to be a link between their absent and the cave; I'm sure about it." He finished and took a long sip from the cigarette between his fingers and then exhaled the smoke with a sigh.

"And I assume that there is a reason for you wanting us to take that way too. Am I right?" Neji asked and waited patiently for an answer.

"Yes there is." Was his simple answer.

"And that would be?" Neji was getting a little impatience as he was trying to force the answers from the genius.

"First you I and would be better with the handling of this mission. Kiba is not as bright as us and Gaara has a village to run and it will be very inconvenient if he became missing as well."

"So you think that we might end just like Naruto and the others?"

"Yes. Actually I'm counting on that." Again with the short answers.

"I see. Why is that though? And why did you chose me?" Neji asked again.

"Because Temari and I broke up, and she wants to kill me or something. Very troublesome if you ask me…" Neji just chuckled at his blatant answer. "And because you want to go and find them much more than I do." Neji just raised his eyebrow at that.

Shikamaru didn't answer this time. He was sure that Neji would find the answer by himself. Just as they both knew that Shikamaru's reason was just an excuse to cover his real motives, which were that he really wanted to find them because Naruto was a very close friend to him, and that Ino would kill him if he didn't bring Sai and Sakura back, and that he was concerned for all of them as well. Maybe he wasn't very concerned about Sasuke but still he wanted them all safe and sound.

Neji knew that he wanted to bring his cousin's boyfriend back, because she was always sad when she was away from the blonde and secondly because his feelings for Sakura were strong and he hated standing behind not being able to help them at all.

They both went to sleep that night with a heavy feeling dawning on their hearts. After Neji went to bed, Shikamaru stayed awake for one more cigarette before he fell asleep as well.

The following day found them at the hotels exit door when Shikamaru wanted to say a few parting words the half part of his team.

"When you finish searching, go back to Konoha and report everything. If we don't come back, tell to Tsunade not to send another searching team." He said yawning. It was a particularly good day for cloud watching, Shikamaru noticed and before Gaara or Kiba had something to say they had already left towards the woods where the old path laid.

The two comrades walked in silence through the thick forest. The air was clean and fresh and the sole pollution came from Shikamaru's smoke. Neji side glanced at him with a look that clearly showed his disapproval towards the other man's habit, but he chose not to comment on it since he knew for the reasons behind it.

The day was rolling and they found more marks from their targets. It was clear that they were in a hurry. Their tracks soon led them to a cave. Shikamaru's suspicions came true as they slowly entered it. Like the others before them, they could see the markings spread across the chamber made of stone. But their attention was not on the writings, which were clear that they were written in a strange language, but trying to find some clues.

They searched until it was nightfall and it wasn't hard to figure that their friends' trails ended in this very cave. Even Shikamaru's brilliant mind couldn't figure out what exactly had happened. It was like they just disappeared from the face of the earth inside this cave.

"What do we do now?" Neji asked even though he had a few ideas about the subject.

"We wait." He said in such a matter of fact tone and Neji couldn't agree less.

They heard it, a sound almost inaudible in the dead of night. The sound of a cloak withered in the wind. They were waiting for answers and there, close at the dawn, a sound out of the ordinary was heard. Neji activated his byakugan and saw them. Two cloaked figures outside of the cave waiting. They bore a name, similar to this hour of the morning. It was dawn and by the looks of it, it would also be red.

They were far too close to the cave to allow an escape. Neji informed his comrade of the situation, and the other man closed his eyes in deep thought, but before he could open them again a kunai flew towards his direction. Luckily Neji did the trademark move of the main branch and a whirlpool of chakra made the kunai to lose his target.

Soon in the soft morning light, in the entrance of the cave revealed the stoic face of Uchiha Itachi and the grinning one of Hoshikagi Kisame were visible. Kisame was un-strapping his large sword, Samehada, from his back preparing for a fight. But before he was ready the deadly cold voice made the Akatsuki's members' intentions known.

"Where is the Kyuubi?" he asked, simple and clear.

"We don't know. And even if we did we wouldn't tell you." The Hyuuga said with the same icy voice as well, even though Itachi's was much more threatening.

"You do know, Hyuuga-san. Otherwise you wouldn't be here. You just don't know the whole truth." He simply laid the facts for everyone to see.

"How troublesome." Shikamaru drawled. "If we knew we wouldn't be here. We probably know as much as you do."

"Don't be fucking jerks!" yelled Kisame and gritted his teeth in anger. "Tell us what you know." He demanded and his hand was holding tightly at the hilt of his sword.

Both ends were on the verge of attacking or defending and the heavy silence was nerve breaking. And then Shikamaru saw a plan that could work. He whispered to Neji to perform the Heavenly Spin at his signal.

"Troublesome… Uchiha, your partner is the most thick-headed person I've ever met." He said as he looked at the shadowy form of the shorter man, but never looking directly at his eyes.

"Shit! You're the brat that finished off Hidan. Aren't you? I'll show you who the thick-headed asshole is!" Kisame yelled and raised his sword at the entrance of the cave. He swung it to the right but because of its large size, the sword collided with the cave in one ungraceful movement.

At that moment Shikamaru yelled "Now!" and Neji did his move and begun to extract chakra through his palms. And then the strangest thing happened. Some force was activated and the markings turned blue and light came from within them. Samehada was attached to the wall like a magnet and chakra was being absorbed from the sword.

"Fuck! My sword is stuck on the wall!" Kisame yelled at his partner, anger all over his face. Itachi watched the scene with surprise since this was probably the first time in his life that he was at loss.

Neji stopped his heavenly spin and was now watching the light surrounding him and Shikamaru before it absorbed them completely. Before they vanished into thin air, they caught a glimpse of Itachi's shock-covered face and herd the string of curses from Kisame. And that was it. They were now standing, a little shaky, at the middle of a very different cave, as they were just transported there.

"And now what?" Neji asked at Shikamaru who looked just as dumbfound as himself.

"Tsk. Troublesome…" he stopped talking and drew another cigarette to his mouth.

"We walk then." Neji announced and together they left the cave side by side towards the unknown lands before them.

It was another dark gloomy night for Harry, as he was walking back from his long strolls through the streets of Little Whinging. His curfew begun in a few minutes and he had to go to that house and spent the night locked in his room. He entered the most loathed house he had ever been in, and he had already been inside the Shrieking Shack. At the moment, even that place sounded better.

He ignored his aunt's words like it was just another annoying noise from the street and pretended that he had not heard the snort that came from the living room, most likely from uncle Vernon.

He entered his room; that after all these years he had learnt to call his own, and it really had Harry's mark. He drew the curtains ever so slightly and gazed at the emptiness and still life of Privet Drive. Anger had begun to boil in him. He was mad at his friends for never writing any more than a sentence on their letters. Mad at him, for not being able to do anything, other than stay hidden in this house.

The black haired teen looked from his hiding place the dark streets below. He hated this prison. If only something exiting would happen to him. Little did he know that the following day, or night, something exiting would happen. He decided to forget about it for the moment and to go to sleep in his comfortable bed.

The night came and went, and when his aunt called him to wake up the next morning, he wasn't fully aware of the time difference between last night and the present. He blinked tiredly a few times and dragged his body to the bathroom for his morning routine. Once he was clean and fresh he went downstairs to the kitchen to have something close to breakfast.

He ate halfheartedly, as he always did those days and paid close attention to the news on the television. Just like every day for the past two weeks, nothing important or eye catching had happened.

"You look like shit." His dear cousin whispered to him, so his aunt Petunia wouldn't hear her precious little boy use that language.

Harry chose silence as the best way to avoid conversation. The truth was that he saw another dream with Cedric's death again and even though he hadn't woken up during the night he really looked like… shit in the morning.

Harry stormed into his room with the day's events parading one by one through his head. The Dementors, the patronous, Mrs. Figg, the letters, the ministry. He though his head would explode. Mr. Weasley told him to stay calm. But that seamed ridiculous to even think about right now. He kicked his empty chest and now his foot was in pain. Well it was better than the ever present pain in his heart.

"Great! Bloody brilliant!" he yelled to no one in particular and decided that it was time to calm down. He sat on the bed and tried to catch his breath, which wasn't a very easy task.

He was thankful that his uncle and aunt had left for the hospital with a still stunted Dudley and he was left alone again. Well, it would be much better if Ron and Hermione had sent him a letter or something. But he couldn't ask for much now, could he? This night was probably one of the hardest on his life.

It wasn't just the waiting before the hearing, but it was the memories that Harry was trying to blog out of his head that those foul creatures made him relive again.

That night and the two that followed, Harry passed them almost sleepless. He was always in his room, daring not to come out and meet the Dursleys. On the third night of his waiting he was informed that the following night the Dursleys would leave for what he did not know, nor did he cared, and that he would be alone in the house. He liked that.

But he also hated that he was still bound to this house for the time being. He considered the thought of leaving more than once, but if he left he knew he would be in much more trouble than he already was. He was officially doomed.

And finally tomorrow came and Harry was left alone to ponder on the recent events. As he sat alone in his room he was utterly surprised to come down stairs and meet with faces he knew and held dear to his heart. And when he found out that he was going to leave this hellhole he could not stop the grin for forming on his young face.

Lupin watched with fascination Harry to leap through the stairs up to his room to pack his things. He wasn't a boy anymore but not a man yet. He had matured a lot through this last year and the physical resemblance towards his father was even more intense. It wasn't just his face but his body as well, still not very tall, but lean and thin. He smiled at the memory as James would always be teased by Sirius for his height.

"Harry, are you ready?" he asked and when Harry nodded his head they set off towards Grimmauld place.

When they reached the house and once harry was inside his smile fell suddenly for the house was very unpleasant once you get in for the first time. He met Mrs. Weasley which after a bone-crashing hug she led him to his room. She opened the door and ushered him inside. Next thing he knew he was tackled by Hermione and Ron was patting him on his back. Then he could see everyone in the room.

"Hello Harry!" Ginny exclaimed in excitement and pure genuine happiness.

Then there was an uncomfortable silence that was unceremoniously broken by the twins and a blonde kid when the three of them entered the room.

"Bloody hell!" George said grinning from ear to ear.

"It's Harry!" Fred said and they both gritted him enthusiastically. Then Harry and Naruto locked eyesight and another uncomfortable silence followed.

"Hi, I'm Harry." He said politely and shook hands with Naruto.

"I'm Naruto!" the blonde yelled and seconds later three more people entered the room that was now a little too crowdie.

Harry watched them with a double take. The first two looked normal, except the stoic face they both had, they seemed normal. But there was a girl with bright pink hair. They were probably fake, Harry concluded.

"Shut up you dumbass. You're going to wake her up again." Sasuke said to Naruto and he made a strange sound in disapproval.

"You know Sasuke, I think it was a set up for Naruto to yell when you walked by her so she could scream at you." Sai simply stated and Harry could see the proud faces of the three masterminds behind the whole thing.

"So…" Harry begun and wasn't sure of what to say next. "What is going on?" he finally asked. "And who are these people? No offense." He said and waited for an answer. For a moment they all stood staring at each other. Finally Hermione took a deep breath and begun.

"These are Naruto, which you already met, Sakura, Sai and Sasuke. But before we get to that point, let us tell you everything in a chronological order. Everything begun when you-know-who's return was confirmed. Then Dumbledore…"

After all the introductions were made they all spent their time on informing Harry about the order, the strangers and pretty much everything that was going on. They were so engrossed in their conversation that when Mrs. Weasley came and told them that it was dinner time they all stared at her in disbelieve.

Dinner was very pleasant for a change. He loved the feeling of his friends close to him again. He loved how he felt safe once more. That night Harry smiled and laughed but he could not stop this bitter sentiment of jealousy to rise within him. Harry knew that it was essential to his and the order's safety to be left out, but still he was angry at all of them. He let that aside and laughed with the now three troublemakers making jokes. Sometimes he knew it was better to hide his true feelings, and that is what he did at the moment. He failed to notice the sad knowing look his godfather gave him.

* * *

**Preview of chapter 6:**

"Hurry up! We're going to lose the train!" she yelled to the three quarrelling men behind her…

"So this is London... it's quite big."

"You don't say."


	6. King’s Cross and the jail break

Hello…. It's been a while! I'm so sorry!!! But this chapter is close to 7000 words! The longer I have written! Anyway! Please enjoy this chapter cause I worked hard for this… the editing took forever and I was about to quit several times! well i wanted more editing but i guess i have delayed this chapter too much... Read and review! Suggestions and constructive criticism helps me and flames are simply ignored!

**King's Cross and the jail break**

"Whoa! Wait a minute! If you say that this weapon is so important for the enemy then why don't you destroy it or something?" trust Naruto to express his thoughts aloud in the most unsuitable of moments.

Sakura made a defeated sound. She didn't want to do the explaining for the hundredth time this week to the loud blonde. Sai was too preoccupied with writing only god knows what on one of his sketchpads so it was Sasuke's job to do all the hard work. He scowled.

"Because, this so called weapon is important to them as well, not to mention that it mustn't be exactly a weapon, but something else, something different but equally important." Sasuke sat and watched Naruto process all this new information and made a chuckle when Naruto made an "oh", showing that he finally understood what was going on.

"Now I get it!" he said loudly.

"So you created that in order to protect this something from the bad guy right?" he asked the people in the room.

Hermione was about to say something when Sai muttered "Don't bother" to her and nodded his head in a yes manner towards the direction of Naruto. She closed her mouth and thought of the obvious similarities between Ron and the loud blonde. Big heart and no brains, it made her smile uncharacteristically.

Harry was about to make yet another question when Mrs. Weasley said loudly "Enough! It's time to go to bed! Now! All of you!"

Sirius gave a chuckle as the middle aged woman was ushering them to bed. She really was mothering everyone, even though not all of them needed her.

A defeated murmur was etched through the dusty old kitchen, and one by one the youth of the room retreated to their own bedrooms. Soon one by one the adults left as well and it was just the two old friends in that dusty old kitchen alone.

"So, how does Harry seem to you? He lost some more weight during the summer, didn't he?" Remus said and lifted himself off the table. He searched the cupboards and found a thirty-year-old bottle of sweet red wine along with two crystalline, covered with dust, glasses. He flicked his wand and soon the glasses were free from the filth that covered them. Remus then proceeded to fill the two glasses with the crimson liquid.

Sirius took his time before answering as he observed the dying flames in the fireplace.

"He seems taller as well." He finally said and sipped from his glass. He closed his eyes and savored the sweet taste of wine in his dry mouth. He twirled the glass in his hand and examined its container closely. "He does seem a little off as well. Don't you agree?" he added in the end.

"The memories are much too fresh. He has shown a remarkable courage. Others would have lost their sanity in his place." He spoke as the wise man he was, the voice of reason from his now scattered group of friends.

"Let us drink to that courage then. To remain intact, along with his sanity, through his life." Sirius said and lifted his glass.

"To courage…" Remus repeated and lifted his glass as well.

Together the two old friends spent the night drinking to that precious drop of courage the young boy possessed.

-

When Sai woke up, it was still too early for everyone else in the house. He lifted himself from the bed, making no sound as Sakura slept quietly beside him, and watched the clock on the nightstand. It was five thirty in the morning. No one would be up so early, he figured. It was time to search the rest of the house as he intended for a while now. He quietly dressed himself and exited the room masking his charka as well in the process. The doors creaked when he closed them behind him, but fortunately no one took notice.

On his way down he passed through many different rooms, most of them were bathrooms and bedrooms. He had seen all of them. But there was one room that he had not visited yet. The one located on the first floor, next to the library. The reason why he wanted so much to see what's inside was because he noticed how when each and every one of the people coming in and out from there, locked the door with some kind of spell. And his shinobi instincts told him that something important must be in that room.

Silently he came closer and closer to the room. It was darkness all around him but his senses and his memory of the place allowed him to navigate with great ease through the hallways. It wasn't long before he finally reached his destination. To his great surprise the door wasn't fully closed as he expected it to be and the light that came from within showed that the room was occupied. And then he heard talking coming from inside the room.

He was so close that he could hear clearly everything that was told from the inside. The first voice definitely belonged to a man. And he was certain that the man was Sirius Black. The second voice belonged to a woman. Her voice was slightly hushed and had nervousness in it. But it was also strong and held authority. She was probably old and someone in a position of power as well.

"Sirius, I don't know why exactly but Dumbledore told me to say this to the order. As we discussed earlier I couldn't come there myself so I'm telling you this now. He said that you must all keep an eye on our guests." She said and took a deep breath as she finally said what was nagging her since she spoke with the headmaster.

"Minerva, we know that already, and we already did it without Dumbledore telling us. Why all the rush?" Sai heard Sirius ask and waited for the comeback.

"You don't understand! He was very unsure about this! Snape told him something a few nights ago. He didn't tell me exactly what it was but it must be something very important to make him this troubled. "

Sai was certain that the guests she was talking about were them and apparently they were being watched. Not that he didn't expect it though. It was only normal after all. But he would prefer it they weren't. He was taking this rather calm but he wasn't sure if the others would take it as well as he did.

"Sirius, he especially told me to watch Naruto the most. He said that there was something inside him that made him dangerous!" her voice was slightly panicked and it was obvious she didn't like the situation at all.

"What is inside him?" the firm male voice asked. Sirius was very troubled from this new information and made a mental note to speak with the headmaster as soon as possible.

"I don't know. He didn't tell me. Listen I told you everything I know. I have to leave now. We will talk soon. My greetings to everyone!"

Sai didn't stay long after that. He went back to the room and was grateful that he slipped unnoticed. He closed the door behind him and leaned his figure on the closed door. He let a breath slip from his lips. Soon Sasuke woke up from the noises, which were very disturbing for him since he was a very light sleeper. He was about to say something when he was cut off by the artist.

"Not yet. Wake up the others first." Sai's voice was still emotionless as ever but the serious tone which held didn't go unnoticed by Sasuke. He went next to Sakura and kneeled by her side of the twin bed. He shook her and soon she woke from her slumber. He then went to Naruto and woke him up as well.

"What the...?" Naruto asked as he jerked up from bed and looked around. "Why did you wake me up bastard?" his eyes fell at the clock and soon after they widened in pure shock. "It's six o'clock! For the love of…"

"Shut up Naruto. There's something very important to tell you." Sai said effectively silencing the blonde.

"And that would be…" Sasuke tried to coax the answer from his teammate.

"They are watching us." He finally said.

"What do you mean watching us?" Sakura asked.

"I mean that they are keeping an eye on us. They _know_ we are dangerous." He emphasized the word "know".

"Oh! Oh my!" as he predicted Sakura immediately panicked. She stood up and begun pacing up and down the room.

"Those assholes! I'll show them!" Naruto yelled as rage begun to take over him. He stood up as well.

"Calm down, Naruto. And keep your voice down!" Sasuke said. "There's more to tell us. Isn't it Sai?"

"Yes, yes there is. They know that there is something inside Naruto. I don't know how much they really know, but they already know too much." Sai finished and for just a second, maybe less, there was some kind of emotion in his eyes. What was it they will never know, for no one seemed to notice at the moment.

As if on cue Naruto panicked. His hands were trembling. He knew how they must have known. He kept it a secret. But now was the time to tell them, only if he knew how to begin.

"How do you know all of this?" Sakura asked as she sat down next to Sasuke again. Sasuke just sat there impassive as ever, never admitting that he felt better with her next to him. With an almost unnoticed movement he touched her hand. She didn't become aware of it though.

Sai took a deep breath and begun. "I heard them. Half an hour ago, I woke up and decided to check the house. I just happen to stumble upon Sirius and a woman named Minerva talking. I overheard their conversation. I came here right after they finished."

"Did anyone see you?" Sasuke asked in thought.

"No." the monosyllabic answer was a pure relief for the shinobi. All the while Naruto stood there silently. The question he feared was asked not seconds later by Sakura.

"I don't get it. We never told them for… Naruto's condition. How would they know?"

"I would like to know that as well." Sasuke agreed.

"I… I know." Naruto said with a trembling voice. The looks his teammates gave him urged him to continue. After a few more seconds he began. "One day… we met a man, here. He said I was weak and I went to him to show him that I wasn't. And he did something, something magic. And then he was inside my head. And everything he could see, I saw it too. And he saw… him." He said finally. His face was drained of all colours as he spoke and his eyes were hard and fixed on the painting behind the twin bed, avoiding his teammates.

"It's my fault." He whispered once. "It's all my fault." He said with his voice higher. "It's all my fault!" he nearly screamed in the end.

Sakura with an amazing speed got of the bed and slapped Naruto hard across the cheek. He only placed his hand above it from instinct.

"Naruto! Get a hold of yourself. This isn't your fault… entirely." She added after the look he gave her.

"I'm sorry." He finally said.

"Don't be." Was the answer he received.

-

Dumbledore sat on his office with the pensive directly above him. He wanted to observe the conversation he had with Snape a few nights ago. He let himself to be consumed by the silver mist emitting from the stony object and soon he was watching the all too familiar conversation again.

"Ah. Snape, what brings you here tonight? It's quite late for tea, isn't it? Perhaps would you like some fire whiskey?" he asked nicely and watched Severus taking of his cloak and sitting at one of the chairs before the headmaster's desk.

"We don't have time for this." He said and it was obvious that something was worrying him very much.

"Snape. Tell me exactly what is going on? Is it about Voldemort?"

The other man flinched upon hearing the name of his former master.

"Those guests of yours are very dangerous. You know of who I speak, the ones staying at the order, especially the blonde one. I took a look into his mind, and what I saw was terrible!" Snape didn't wait long and begun talking fast and with a drop of fear in his voice.

"Continue please. Tell me exactly what did you see." The old man sat in complete calmness the exact opposite of the younger man right before him.

"I called him weak to Moody. The boy heard it and came to obviously start a fight. I used occlumency on him. At first I saw him when he was five, maybe six years old. He was crying and some people were treating him badly. Then I saw him when he was older, maybe eleven or maybe more, and he was in a forest with a man giving him a ribbon with that metal thing on it, like the one he is wearing now. But the next thing I saw was very different than the other two." Snape stopped for a while trying to regain his composure. Soon afterwards he continued.

"The next image I saw was of him and the other one from their group, the one named Sasuke, fighting each other. And not just fighting Dumbledore. They were tearing each other apart. They were fighting to death. And they changed during the fight. I didn't get to see it clearly though. The boy's mind is so chaotic… anyway I saw more. I saw him running through a forest. His pupils were red though. That is what took my attention. I wanted to know what was different with his eyes. I went deeper. And then…" he let out a sigh and his eyelids fell until they were closed. He placed his hands between his eyes rubbing the forming headache away.

Dumbledore didn't say a word but let the other man to continue when he was ready. It was obvious to him that what Snape saw next was the most important thing of all. When Snape spoke, his voice was much weaker than before. Dumbledore wondered what could have terrified him so much.

"There's something inside of him. What I saw wasn't a memory or a thought. It was real. It was something like a creature. It was inside a cave. I couldn't see it clearly, but I know it was evil. I felt it."

"Snape. Could you give me exactly what did you saw?"

Snape only nodded his head and lifted his wand to his forehead. He removed the wand and a silver thread was attached to it. Slowly he placed his wand above the pensive and let the memory to fall inside. He then lifted his eyes and look at the powerful headmaster.

"What are you planning to do Dumbledore?" he finally asked. Even though he kind of already new the answer.

"I plan to send them somewhere that I could watch them closely of course."

"Hogwarts? You want to bring them to Hogwarts? This could be very dangerous not only for the students but for the staff as well. It's not that I mind a few problems to leave our school but it would be way too dangerous. And how do you plan on bringing four, very noticeable individuals here? They have no magic in them and they can't be passed as exchange students."

"Oh, it's quite a simple plan actually. I will tell to the school that they are here to study the magical world. We will introduce them as muggles that are here to study our ways. They will be participating in classes as observes and they will study all the theoretical parts. They will be put in the seventh year. And since they are already familiar with some students, they will be placed to Gryffindor."

"Are you mad? Do you remember the new staff member? _Mrs.__ Umbridge_?" Snape spat the name in disgust. "And not to mention muggles at Hogwarts? The entire wizarding community will be against you. More than they already are. Dumbledore be reasonable." Snape tried to convince him in vain.

"I'm sorry Snape. But if I want to keep them, and us, safe, I have to be near them. And if I say they are wizards, people will begin to wonder why they don't perform any magic. I will handle everything. Don't worry. As for your part I don't want any Slytherin trying to terrorize the muggles."

"Yes. There will be none. I will personally see to it." He said defeated.

"Very well then. Now if you'll excuse me I have a few letters to write." He smiled and bid goodnight the dark haired man.

Then Dumbledore was once again at his desk and was going to visit the order tomorrow and tell the shinobi the news. He rembered all the arrangements he did and how they could go safely to Hogwarts.

-

Harry watched the four shinobi enter the kitchen for breakfast. For some reason they seemed edgy. They were looking around the room and observed everyone in the room one by one. Naruto, who would usually sit with the twins, chose to sit next to Sakura and Sasuke for a change. The only one who seemed as he always did was Sai. Before he could make any sort of comment Mrs. Weasley spoke upon seeing them.

"Naruto, Sasuke, Sai, and Sakura… tonight at seven o'clock I need you here at the kitchen. Dumbledore wants to speak with you." She said firmly.

When Harry heard the news he felt a little happy to see the headmaster and to talk about his upcoming expel from Hogwarts. But he was crashed when he heard Mrs. Weasley say "in private". He didn't even make an attempt to protest.

The hours flew quickly and the Weasley's children along with Harry and Hermione were being ushered through the door. Sirius entered and closed the door behind him.

"Good evening everyone!" the old head master exclaimed happily. "How is your stay so far?" as he spoke he was studying the expressions of their guests.

Naruto was clearly scowling at him, and he had a small idea as to what for. Sasuke was glaring at him, even though the boy couldn't intimidate a man, so powerful like him, Dumbledore acknowledged his effort for trying though. Sakura was switching her gaze between him and her teammates and Sai was just smiling. Something that did not sit well with him.

"Dumbledore-san. What did you want to tell us." Sasuke was straight to the point, he expected it.

"Well I will be honest with you. At this moment I have no idea how to send you back in your own world." He said and waited for the outburst that surprisingly never came. He took that as his signal to continue. "So since the order will be much emptier since school stars at September I have arranged for you to attend the school as well." Now the outbursts came all together.

"Hell no! I'm not going back to school!" Naruto yelled and stood from his chair.

"No."A double monosyllabic answer came from the dark haired duo.

Mrs. Weasley was walking up and down murmuring incomprehendable words through her teeth. Sirius was patting Remus in the back because he almost drown with the tea he was drinking.

"This school of yours… it's for magic right?" Sakura asked and continued to ignore the commotion around her. Such an intelligent young girl Dumbledore noticed. He then nodded his head in confirmation.

"We can't do magic. As what we will go there?" she finally asked and with her gentle eyes she looked at him expectedly. He smiled at her in return.

"That I would like to know as well." Sirius said at once.

"As guests. Muggle guests that are there to watch, observe and understand our world. Simple as that." The headmaster said.

"Do you have any idea what this would cause?" Remus asked the question that crossed everyone's mind.

"Don't worry. I have everything planed." The kind man said.

"What if we don't want to go?" Naruto asked aloud.

"Wait, Naruto. I think we should go. Hogwarts has a lot of books and magical objects that we might find helpful for us to return home. Am I right?"

"Of course miss Sakura." Dumbledore answered.

"Then we will see you at the school!" she said happily. "But how we will get there?"

"Ah. I will leave all the instructions here and I'm sure Mrs. Weasley will be happy to help you."

"Of course Dumbledore." Mrs. Weasley said.

The tall white haired man lifted himself of the table and before he vanished he whispered to Mr. Weasley "I'll see you tomorrow at court." And after that he was gone.

-

Time flew as usual. It was already the last day of august, which meant that tomorrow school would begin. Everything turned out somewhat fine. Harry wasn't expelled, and things between him and his friends were back to normal.

The ninjas though had apparently decided to cut themselves off from their company. Sasuke, Sai and Sakura would be seen together almost all the time. The exception of course was Naruto, who preferred the company of the mischievous twins. Sirius commended that these three combined were even worst that himself and James. Well sometimes they went a little too far, and Mrs. Weasley had no problem to punish them, by making them clean all the mess the hippogriff had done in the attic.

Right before the four cast-away friends fell to sleep Sakura muttered after yawning "how do you think this school will be like?"

"Before nightfall tomorrow we will know." Sai whispered from next to her and closed his dark eyes.

Sakura shifted closer to him and to the warmth he emitted. With a smile on her face she fell asleep as well.

-

"We're going to be late! For Merlin's sake! Hurry up!" the annoyingly loud voice from Mrs. Weasley echoed through the whole mansion.

"Mom, have you ever thought of not yelling so much? I think I'm deaf!" George exclaimed and high-fived his brother.

"If you're not ready in ten minutes you will be crippled too."

"Dear lord! My mother is threatening my brother!"

"Fred! That goes for you too."

"Sorry mom." A twin ironic voice was heard, and Naruto who stood right behind them begun to snigger.

"Everyone here? You have your things ready? You don't want to be late do you? Come on then! Let's go! Sirius I said no!" Mrs. Weasley was having a rather stressful day. First the twins aparated on the stairs and were magically flying their chests down the stairs, which ended in an almost dead Ginny. Somehow Naruto was absent from the entire charade. And now Sirius wanted to go along with Harry to King's Cross in the form of his alias snuffles.

Snuffles stayed firmly next to Harry, who only stared in return. A part of him wanted Sirius to come to the station with him, but he also knew how dangerous that could be. What if someone recognized him at the station? Then the aurors would be right on his tail. Harry stopped his mind. He didn't want to have this kind of thoughts now that he was about to begin school.

Now the large group found themselves on the grey streets of London. Naruto was happily walking on the crowded streets as they were heading to the subway. It was the first time he was able to see this city since no one was allowed to leave the order. He watched as so many people, all of them looking rather different from each other were minding their businesses, no one seemed to care that four Asian kids with rather strange clothes and looks were passing by beside them. Sai and Sasuke seemed to watch their surroundings and observing the world, trying to gather information. Sakura on the other hand was looking around her in the same amazement that Naruto had, pointing and asking loudly at the things around her.

They were all standing in front of the wall that would eventually lead them to platform 9 and. But unfortunately for Sakura her three teammates had chosen this time to argue. Apparently Naruto exclaimed his awe about the way they would get to the platform. Sasuke decided that it was time to irk the blonde and Sai was his usual unpleasant self. To sum it up they were arguing, good-naturally of course, and their train was leaving in the next five minutes. This situation was making Sakura quite angry, and that was not a good thing.

"Hurry up! We're going to lose the train!" she yelled to the three quarrelling men behind her. She immediately got their attention. And the look she gave all three of them didn't really leave room for more protest.

Sakura whirled her head suddenly. For some strange reason she thought she heard her voice being called. But the strangest part was what she sensed. It was the good warmth she received when she was around friends. It felt like someone else, beside her three teammates, was there. She shook her head. She was probably missing her home. This was not the right time or place to get home sick.

They all passed through the wall and they were now being squashed through the mobs of people as they were trying to get on the train.

They caught a glimpse of Harry as they walked through the corridor of the train just as he entered a wagon. They were about to enter when a tall handsome black haired boy stopped right in front of Sakura, who was right behind her teammates.

"Hi there." He said to her and she just stared back at him. She finally muttered the same greeting at him.

"Have you chosen a wagon yet? If not you could come to sit with me." He said and showed her his dazzling smile. Her cheeks began to turn a lovely shade of pink, something that the young man noticed immediately.

"Um… I don't even know your name and my friends are wai…"

"Oh! How impolite of me! I'm Roger Davies! And what is your name?" and he gave yet another of his amazing smiles.

"Err… Sakura, Haruno Sakura. Thank you for the invitation but I must return to my friends. We want to sit all together." She turned around and was about to leave when a hand griped her wrist.

"You don't have to leave. You and I could spent some really quality time on our way to the castle. Don't you agree?" his voice was much slower and huskier and he leaning closer to her.

Sakura was about to punch him directly to Hogwarts if her overprotected teammates hadn't stepped in.

"You know, Sakura will sit with us, no matter what you say." A very irritated blonde young man said to the now gapping Roger. The two dark haired boys right beside him didn't speak but their message was more than just clear.

Sakura left from his side and joined her friends as they strolled towards the wagon Harry had entered a while ago.

"You know I could have handled him on my own. I was about to do so."

"Yes we know. And we chose the less bloody way hag."

"Sai!" Sakura screamed and punched the smiling boy. Of course that little display earned them unwanted attention. They could practically hear the whispers from around them. Luckily a door right in front of them opened and they quickly entered inside.

"Hey Fred, George!"

"Hey Naruto! What the hell happened out there?" George asked the quartet.

"Oh nothing big! This annoying guy was pestering Sakura and we took care of it."

"He wasn't pestering me! He was flirting with me! And I could have handled him on my own!"

Just as they were sitting on the seats the door opened and a tall black boy with deadlocks entered the room.

"Lee!" the twins yelled as their long time friend and partner in crime entered.

"Hello! You will not believe what happened just a few minutes ago! Davies was hitting on this hot chick and her boyfriends or something, came and cut him off! And then one of them called her a hag and she punched him! It was great!" the amusement was evident in his face and for the first time he saw the people in the room.

"Shit! You're the hot chick!" he finally said after a lot of staring and gapping.

When they finally reached Hogwarts Sakura had fallen asleep on Sasuke's shoulder and he had lifted her head and let it lie gently on his chest as she was off in dreamland. He made it look like it was for his own better comfort. But the four sniggering noises and the "humph", didn't let him rest for the rest of the trip.

During the trip Lee was very fond of the newcomers. Especially the Uzumaki kid, since he was a lot like his two best friends. His mind was already creating a lot of pranks that the four of them could accomplish. During the trip Sai was just drawing on his notebook and Sasuke just stared out the window. Lee wasn't very thrilled with those two but didn't care that much.

-

Shikamaru looked at his partner next to him. At the moment they were standing in what the people of this world called a "train station". Well it was quite hard to learn the language once they got there. When they left that much hated cave they easily found trails of their comrades leading to a lonesome house on a grassy hill. It wasn't hard to find the tracks and to follow them. It wasn't hard to enter the house either. But it was very hard to find out what had happened next.

They found clues that the missing team had spent at least a day at the house. The forgotten kunai was a clearly identifiable proof. But what happened next was a mystery to them. The duo found several books, and they eagerly tried to read them but to their dismay the books were written in a strange language.

The decision to search the wider area soon followed and then they came across a small town. The bad part was that they couldn't understand a word and the money they had, were as good as dust in this world. They were saved when they found a book in their language that had an easy guide to English. They _borrowed_ the book. And when they finally were able to speak the language they learned that the biggest city, were everyone went was London. And London became their destination. Through small jobs they found money and bought train tickets.

"So this is London... it's quite big."

"You don't say." Neji said ironically.

They both knew their search was quite hopeless. From the maps they studied, they found out that this world was unbelievably bigger than their own. It really was like searching for a needle in a haystack. But they weren't going to quit. They were castaways here themselves. And the word "quit' didn't exist in a Hyuuga's dictionary. Well in Shikamaru's dictionary it was probably used quite often but apparently Neji had enough motivation for both of them. Well he didn't have much of a choice either.

"Troublesome… so now what do we do?"

"You're supposed to be a genius aren't you?" Neji asked irritably.

"So are you."

Neji was about to answer back when the corner of his eye caught something very interesting. A pink head was getting lost through a big crowd. He began running searching for it. Shikamaru didn't waste a second and was right behind the Hyuuga prodigy in an instant. They fought through the people in an attempt to reach the pink head. They lost sight of her. Seconds later there it was. It had stopped right before a coffee stand. Neji reached his hand and turned the girl around.

"Sakura!" he said breathlessly only to stare back at an unfamiliar face. Dark brown eyes face piercings, thin lips. This girl was not Sakura. And this girl was screaming for help. Before any of them knew it they were shot with an electrified gun.

-

The policeman was sitting on a chair right opposite of them.

"Why did you attack that girl?" he demanded quite angrily.

Shikamaru sighed and glanced at Neji. He was standing there with his face stony and unemotional. But Shikamaru knew he was quite pissed off at himself, he wasn't about to talk any time soon.

"We told you. It was an accident. She looked like our friend. Our friend has pink hair. We lost her in the crowd. The girl had pink hair. You do the math." Shikamaru finally said. He was itching for a cigarette. He thought otherwise. He wasn't going to risk looking disrespectful and get the policeman angrier than he already was.

The policeman looked at them skeptically. On the one hand he had two young men, obviously tourists, something he figured from their strange accent and clothing, that were trying to prove their innocence. On the other hand the girl they harassed was very stressed since there was a rape incident at the train station a week ago and everybody was on the edge since the media were magnifying the whole thing.

"I want to see your passports." He said firmly.

The two shinobi looked at each other. They had no passports or any sort of paper. As a matter of fact they weren't supposed to exist.

"They were stolen."

"What was stolen?" the policeman looked at Neji waiting. It was the first time Neji spoke through this whole fiasco.

"Our passports and papers, we have nothing. Not even money. And we really need to look for our friend. She will be alone out there. We are worried for her."

"Young man, do you really think I will allow to two foreigners with no papers go out of that door that easily. You are under arrest and will spend the night in a cell." He said and left banging the door behind him.

"Troublesome."

Neji didn't say it out loud but he definitely agreed with his partner.

-

"What do we do now?" Shikamaru asked as he sat on a filthy bench inside the cell. It was nighttime now and the guard outside their cell was half asleep and lazily watching a rerun of a show called "Blackadder". Shikamaru was watching it for a while now as Neji was walking up and down the room.

"Well. That's what I'm thinking. And I tried to get your attention but you were watching that box over there." He motioned at the direction of the television.

"Say it already." Shikamaru said. He was apparently too bored to think.

"Well we're shinobi. We can cast a genjutsu at the guard and then escape." He said with a huff. A five year old could think of that. But Neji's partner wasn't wasting energy to think.

"I've already thought of that. I mean what do we do for the others, Naruto and the rest of them."

"I don't know. We could get out of here for a start."

"Well. Then let's go." Shikamaru said determinately and stood up. "A simple genjutsu would do. And a small explosion tag. The wall isn't enhanced with anything. Ready?"

"Yes."

Neji's palms were making the standard seals for a c-level illusionary technique. As soon as the guard was thinking of an intimate moments with a luscious geisha they set the explosion tag on the wall and stepped away. When it blew and the wall fell they stepped out and run away as people were going towards the place where the big noise was heard.

"I feel like that crazy blonde from Akatsuki. The one who blows up everything." Neji said jokingly as he run across the streets next to the lazy genius.

They finally came to a stop at an alley. It was pretty dark and deserted.

"We should probably find a place to stay, and a job to pay for that place." Shikamaru suggested. He took another cigarette out of the packet in his pocket. He was about to take a mach out of a box when he discovered the box was empty. "Damn!"

"What?" Neji asked alarmed.

"I run out of matches."

"We have bigger problems. We really need a place to stay. Something low though."

Shikamaru was about to speak when he saw man coming out from a door carrying a big bucket filled with something. The man was short and looked weak. He obviously had trouble carrying the bucket. He rushed towards the man and helped him. Shikamaru took the heavy bucket from the man and poured the filthy water at the side of the street.

"Oh! Thank you young master! You can hardly find any kind youths these days! Come inside me pub!" he told to Shikamaru who smirked and motioned Neji to come with him.

"Thank you sir. It really was no problem." He said to the man.

"Oh. Nonsense. I'm Tom! And this is my pub! The leaky cauldron." He said and shook enthusiastically their hands.

But the two shinobi were busy noticing their surroundings. The room was empty, except a man sleeping with his head on a table. The pub looked cozy and small. And the owner was probably cleaning.

"I'm Neji, and this is my friend Shikamaru. Not to be impolite but why did you invited us in since you are apparently closed?"

"Ohohoho! Well this is an inn too. And you two are foreigner wizards and seemed lost. I thought it would be nice to help fellow wizards in need. You were probably looking for my pub. Ya see only wizards can see the pub." He gave them a good hearted explanation that left them even more confused than before.

"Wizards?' Neji whispered to Shikamaru, who only quirked an eyebrow.

"Sir, could we sit and ask you a few questions?" Shikamaru said to the smiling man.

"Of course, of course! Let me get you something warm to drink! Alright?"

"No time for that. Please." Neji half asked and half demanded.

"Alright. What is wrong?"

"Well me and Neji, are kind of lost, and well we are looking for a job and a place to stay. Would you like us to work for you and sleep and eat here for free?"

"Um, lost? I'm not sure I understand very well." He said hesitantly.

"Well, we are not wizards. We honestly have no idea where we are actually." Shikamaru said to Tom. Tom's eyes widened. They weren't wizards but were able to see his pub. This didn't make sense.

"Please. Let us work for you. We are looking for our friends and this wo-city is very large. We will be forever in your debt." Neji said, even though he wasn't planning on staying forever in this world.

"But, you are…oh! What the hell. You will work for me but you will pretend to be like us, wizards that is, or else you will be in a lot of trouble. No matter what you will see you will not look surprised."

"Thank you sir." Shikamaru said and looked at Tom. "Perhaps you could tell us a few more things about you wizards?" he asked in way that Tom wouldn't refuse.

"Me and my bloody kindness!" Tom said to himself and begun telling them in a night-long story about the wizarding world.

* * *

Preview of chapter 7:

They turned their heads simultaneously. They hoped what they heard was true. If it was, then God really existed.

"I'm going to kill her!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.


End file.
